RWBY- BREK
by GoldenCyclone4
Summary: A great darkness is stirring in Remnant. A force that no Huntsman or Huntress has ever faced now threatens the land. And their only hope rests... in the hands of an angsty teen from Earth, his sister, a bored son of a millionaire, and a Faunus girl. Did we mention the Keyblades? Welcome to the adentures of Team BREK.
1. Chapter B- Black Wind

**BREK Chapter B- Black Wind**

 **Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by RoosterTeeth. Kingdom Hearts is owned by Square Enix and Disney. I own nothing but my own characters.**

* * *

 _"_ _Black Wind blowing through my soul will lead me to my greatest loss…"_

 _-Ancient Remnian Prophecy, Line 1_

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The forest was quiet. The night, illuminated by the shattered moon overhead, had arrived, and many creatures had returned to their dens or dwellings, knowing well what forces lurked in the dark.

The silence was broken, however, by a figure emerging from the undergrowth. Clad in a grey cloak fastened with a simple pin at the shoulder, the unknown figure moved onwards towards a clearing in the forest. Their destination was the center of the clearing, where a small stone monument stood.

 _The brave and foolish ones, they walk not on the center,_

 _The signs are pointing every way and I don't know which route's better…_

The figure approached the knee-high monument and looked down at the words inscribed upon it: _Amy Kallian- 2000-2015._ The figure drew back the hood on their cloak, revealing the face of a young man to the night air. His chocolate brown hair was rustled by a sudden gust of chilly forest wind, but he paid it no mind. He knelt down in front of the grave, and from his cloak withdrew a single rose with his right hand, his left pulling out a small pendant so that it hung visibly around his neck.

 _Some will take the fall, and some will see tomorrow,_

 _I could be the light or darkness, redemption or sorrow…_

The boy flipped open the pendant with his thumb, looking at the picture inside. His hazel eyes studied the photo, looking over the three children captured in a happy moment. A younger version of the boy was laughing as he pulled a girl with fiery red hair and emerald eyes close to his right side. The girl herself had a grin that seemed to illuminate their surroundings. To their left was another girl, with wavy blonde hair and eyes a deep blue, who had a slight smirk on her face as she watched the two. All three were enjoying what looked to be a day at a park. As he gazed down at the pendant, the boy's eyes slipped closed, tears pooling around his eyes. He gripped the pendant tightly as he set the rose at the foot of the grave.

 _How could I live on with what I've done?_

 _You took me in, showed me love, when I had nowhere to run…_

A fallen branch snapped. The boy jerked, hearing the intruder to this moment of mourning. He quickly focused his power, and as the world went blue behind his closed eyes, he searched, already knowing what he would find, if not where. He rose to his feet, closing the pendant and slipping it back under the cloak. He held his right arm out in front of him, palm outstretched. In it materialized a simple bow, polar white with a sky blue trim along the edges. He held the bow up, making a motion with his left arm as if drawing back a non-existent bowstring.

 _You offered me your everything, and I threw it all away…_

As he did, a bowstring made from solid air slowly manifested, a matching arrow already strung along it. He held his stance, aiming towards the edge of the clearing, and what he knew lay beyond it. Opening his eyes, he let the arrow fly.

 _My indecision keeps me Unaligned…_

The arrow slammed into its target, a shadowy wolf creature who had been hiding in the treeline to strike. The beast, a Beowolf Grimm, fell back, dead. However, its comrades quickly emerged from their own hiding spots, surrounding the boy and trapping him in the clearing. The boy quickly threw his bow upward before unpinning his cloak and throwing it off. Clad in a pale white battle vest and light armor, he quickly caught the bow, grabbed its middle with both hands, splitting it into paired longswords. With a blast of wind, he rushed forward, targeting the Beowolves in front of him. A long upward slash with his right began the battle, and he let the momentum carry him into a counterclockwise spin, landing a downward slash with his left as he came around. Before a Grimm on his right could swipe at his chest, he had already pushed away with another wind gust, falling back and leaping towards the offending Grimm. He blocked a second swipe with his left blade before lashing out with a stab to its head, quickly eliminating the target.

 _A mother and a child, but one is not accepting;_

 _They make their way out to the door not thinking for their safety…_

Slashing out with his right blade to cut into a Beowolf approaching from the side, the boy delivered a swift kick to the new corpse, launching off it and flying back once more. He landed near the forest's edge, and leapt again up into a tree branch. Rejoining his weapon, he summoned a trio of arrows and fired them into the pack of enemies. The arrows ripped into three of the wolves, downing them but not defeating them. The boy fired three volleys before blasting off from his perch, again splitting the bow and landing in the middle of the pack with a powerful gale.

 _And now I must decide, if I'll create a martyr…_

 _The voices in my head, they ask if I'm a man or monster!_

The boy was instantly rushing forward as he landed, A quick horizontal slash from the right blade severed a Beowolf's head from its body, with a claw swipe rendered useless as the left blade cut the oncoming hand from another Grimm. He threw his left blade into an oncoming wolf's chest before delivering a spinning slash with the right, halting the advance of three Grimm behind him permanently. Holding his left hand out, he pushed forward, sending a rush of razor sharp wind into the oncoming horde.

 _How can I live on with what I've done?_

 _You took me in, showed me love, when I had nowhere to run…_

With much of the original attacking force disabled, fleeing, or dead, the boy once again closed his eyes and extended his senses. He turned just in time to have a punch delivered to his chest, the force sending him flying. He flipped midair and landed on his feet, looking up to see a Beowolf with much more prominent bone spikes, creating a form of armor on most of its extremities. Two spikes reared up on its skull mask, giving an appearance of horns, while two long and sharp bone blades extended from its forearms. The Alpha Beowolf growled, before throwing its head back and howling a challenge.

 _You offered me your everything, and I threw it all away…_

 _My indecision keeps me Unaligned…_

The boy shook off the hit, leaping back a few paces and dismissing his blades. He held both hands out to his sides before closing his eyes and focusing. Instead of his senses, he reached within himself and sent the power he found to his hands. In both hands, a pale light appeared, solidifying into the shape of what could generously be called a blade, before fully materializing with a gust of swirling wind.

In his left, the blade had a fairly simple and elegant blade shaft, with metal forged to resemble a spinning cyclone reaching up to its peak. The blade also had an additional piece at the end that stuck out horizontally from the main shaft, a spiral design of sky blue, complementing the cloudy white of the main blade. The blade's hilt guards resembled swirling grey tornadoes, and from the pommel hung a charm with a similar design to the blade's end piece. The boy's right blade had a similar overall structure, with a golden shaft being entwined in royal purple strands that spiraled down to the blade's hilt. The end of the blade had an eight-pointed star attached, glowing the same royal purple as the fake "ribbons." All along the blade were runic symbols, shining with a mystical light. The hilt guards were an elegant silver, sweeping down regally like ocean waves around and conjoining at the pommel, where another charm designed like the end piece rested. The boy gripped his new weapons, his Keyblades, tightly, before once more blasting forward with the wind.

The Alpha, seeing the challenge, immediately thrust forward with his left bone blade. The boy immediately threw up his right Keyblade and swung the flat of the blade against it, parrying the blow and knocking the Alpha off balance. He capitalized on the moment of weakness, slashing forward with his left Keyblade. He scored a glancing blow off the beast's armored chest, barely enough to even cause pain. So instead, he swept his right blade towards the Grimm's legs. The Alpha had recovered from the parry, though, and leapt back out of the swing's range. It then rushed the boy again, this time with both arms held back to avoid a parry. As it approached, it swung both arms around and forward in a cross slash. The boy already had his blades up and blocked the hit, retaliating with a spinning swing of both blades which left a deep gash in the beast's unprotected belly. It staggered back, and the warrior pressed his advantage, lashing out with swing after stab after slash. Within a minute, cuts and stab wounds littered the Alpha's body. Sensing his foe was close to defeat, the boy leapt backwards for a final time, cutting down two straggler Beowolves trying to attack from behind.

 _How could I live on with what I've done?_

Summoning his power, the boy jumped, soaring high into the sky as his Keyblades shifted back into his bow. Already, a massive arrow had formed in the center, ready to fire. The boy pulled the arrow back as he reached the peak of his jump, the shattered moon at his back.

 _You took me in, showed me love, when I had nowhere to run…_

The boy poured all of his wind power into the arrow, before taking aim at the injured Alpha and the remaining stragglers of its pack. He let it fly.

 _You offered me your everything, and I threw it all away!_

The massive arrow slammed into the Alpha Beowolf's chest before erupting in a blast of hurricane-force gales, cutting through the remaining Beowolves like butter. Their fallen corpses were thrown up into the air by the blast, landing a moment behind the boy as he hit the ground again.

 _My indecision keeps me Unaligned._

After a moment, the boy walked past the rapidly disintegrating corpses of the Beowolves and once more knelt at the foot of the grave he had constructed. For several minutes, he was silent and unmoving. Eventually, though, he rose, retrieved his cloak, and left the clearing the way he came, his only companion the wind.

* * *

 **B- Tyler Blackquill**

 **R-**

 **E-**

 **K-**

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 **Song- Unaligned by Nathan Sharp**

 **Welcome, people, to my first venture on this website, BREK. As you probably noticed, I've decided to emulate Monty Oum (RIP, you amazing man) and the original show by creating four Trailer chapters, complete with theme songs. If it's integrated poorly, please don't hesitate to let me know. Constructive criticism and comments are always appreciated!**

 **And yes, the Keyblades and such will be explained in due time.**

 **This is GoldenCyclone4, signing off.**


	2. Chapter R- Rock

**BREK Chapter R- Rock**

 **Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to RoosterTeeth. Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney. I own nothing but my own characters.**

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 _"_ _Earth holds steady, pressing on towards the great divide that he must cross…"_

 _-Ancient Remnian Prophecy, Line 2_

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"So, this is the place that intel led me to?" I wondered aloud as I stood atop a shipping container. My location was the Vale Warehouse District, where an anonymous source had told me that a group of troublemakers would be trying to bust into a warehouse and make off with some Dust. Sure enough, there was a Bullhead parked outside the warehouse I was gazing down at, complete with a logo of a beast's head under three claw marks. ' _What could the Fang want with a bunch of Dust?_ ' I asked myself. ' _Don't they have other, easier channels of getting this stuff?_ ' I shrugged. ' _Meh, who knows what goes through that group's heads._ ' Why the White Fang did what they did didn't concern me; all I cared about was the What. And that What was robbing a warehouse and making off with an army's worth of Dust.

 _'_ _Heh, guess it's time to put my new toys through their paces.'_ I leapt off of the shipping container and hit the ground with an audible thud. _'Let's hope no one heard that…'_ I scanned my surroundings, checking around for any lookouts or guards. "Seriously?" I muttered, a bit miffed, "Not even a guard? Geez, ameteur hour much?" A brisk walk brought me up to the warehouse door. "Well, at least they closed the door to avoid being _too_ conspicuous." _'Too bad I'm about to crash the party.'_ I held out my right hand and summoned my newest power to my hand- a massive stone warhammer. Taking it in hand, I reared back and slammed forward, sending a large chunk of the door flying into the warehouse. Judging by the screams, I nailed a couple Fangs with it.

Of course, busting a door down with a hammer isn't exactly stealthy, and the remaining Fang members were already getting over their shock and training their guns and swords on me. A quick scan revealed a cluster of hostage workers in the far corner to my right. Ignoring the Fangs, I used my Earth power to launch myself to them with a stone pillar, landing and breaking down a part of the wall in one swift move.

 _Beyond the boundaries of your city's lights,_

 _Stand the heroes waiting for your cry…_

"Go! Now!" I shouted to them. They quickly obeyed, making a break for the new hole. I pivoted on my left foot, turning to face the Fang members rushing towards me, their swords drawn. Smirking, I swung my hammer into the ground, triggering stone eruptions that threw them off balance.

 _So many times you did not bring this on yourself,_

 _But when that moment finally comes, I'll be there to help._

Noticing the Fang gunners aiming at me, I quickly threw up a wall of stone, blocking their bullets and giving me time to prepare. My memory wasn't great, but I counted five pistols, eight swordsmen, and a pair of snipers in the catwalks. _'Alright. Let's play ball.'_ I pushed some of my power into the hammer, making it glow with raw Earth power. I set my right foot behind me, ready to launch.

 _And on that day when you need your brothers and sisters to care,_

 _I'll be right here…_

I blasted through the stone wall, hammer held behind me as I rushed. The hammer lashed out, slamming two swordsmen and sending them flying away like ragdolls. I used the swing's momentum to keep spinning, landing facing the wall and throwing my hammer at it. On contact, the wall shattered into a burst of rocky shrapnel that scattered throughout the room. The gunners were forced to take cover while the swordsmen did their best to deflect the flying shards. I smirked, knowing that the snipers would have to play far more carefully now.

 _Citizen Soldiers, holding the light_

 _For the ones that we guide from the dark of despair!_

Another spin of the hammer and a stone launcher sent me into the catwalks to deal with the snipers. One was positioned above the door. _'Fine, credit where credit's due, they did have have someone watching the door. From the INSIDE, but hey.'_ Keeping my smirk, I bolted towards him. The poor fool held out his rifle as if he could block what was coming towards him, but it didn't have a chance at stopping the hammer from slamming him off the catwalk and pancaking into the wall.

 _Standing on guard for the ones that we shelter,_

 _We'll always be ready, because we will always be there!_

A sniper round flew right by my ear. I turned and had to duck as the other sniper fired again.

 _'_ _Crap. Need some mobility.'_ Thankfully, I had just the trick. Dismissing my hammer, I instead called the powerful weapon that had granted me these new abilities in the first place- my Keyblade, Quake Buster. The shaft of the blade was a solid, earthy brown metal shaped like a pillar of stone. The hilt guards were shaped into jagged shards of rock on the outside, meeting at a glowing amber gem at the meeting point of blade and hilt, as well as the pommel. The "teeth" of the blade had the appearance of a pair of mountains, their bases attached to the blade and the taller peak being closer to the edge. A similar charm hung from the pommel. Gripping my Keyblade tightly, I rolled out from behind my cover, leaping to my feet and running toward the sniper. A bullet grazed my off shoulder, but my Aura absorbed the blow. I closed the distance and slashed upward, catching her rifle and flinging it upwards.

 _When there's people cryin' in the streets,_

 _And when they're starving for a meal to eat…_

My blade also caught the Fang's mask, and as it shattered, I saw not the face of a hardened terrorist, but the scared face of a young girl, no more than sixteen. I stopped short from my planned follow-up. She looked at me, fear conflicting with her hatred for humans. Judging by the ears, she was a dog Faunus. I looked back, knowing that I wasn't going to be able to hurt her. So I instead caught her rifle on the way down and slashed it in two with my Keyblade.

 _And when you simply need a place to make your bed,_

 _Right here underneath my wing, you can rest your head._

"Go," I told her sharply. "Go now, and I won't hurt you. I won't follow." This seemed to snap her out of her conflict, and she raced away, vaulting over the railing and hitting the ground near the entrance before running out of sight. Turning back, I resummoned my warhammer and leapt over the rail myself, slamming down in front of three swordsmen and two gunners.

 _And on that day, when you need your brothers and sisters to care,_

 _I'll be right here!_

A heavy circular swing sent the swordsmen flying, and the gunners caught a pair of stone fists, knocking them into a group of nearby crates. _'Let's see, that's… 5 swords, two guns, and the snipers, that leaves 3 swords and three guns…'_ My thoughts trailed off as the underlings started pulling back, rushing for cover. _'What are they doing? Did they get a retreat order?'_ A deep chuckle from behind me made me pivot and see the cause of the retreat. The Faunus in front of me was a bear, judging by the rather hairy forearms. He wore the typical outfit of the Fang, white armor with black underclothes, except he had a much more ornate and decorative mask. I cursed under my breath. _'A Lieutenant. That's not good.'_ His weapon was much like mine, a massive warhammer, though his was certainly bigger. It was also single headed, the face having the Fang's emblem inscribed upon it. The back was what concerned me- it had what looked to be jet boosters wired up to really pack a punch. The Fang flipped a switch and the boosters fired off a small jet of flame.

 _Citizen Soldiers, holding the light_

 _For the ones that we guide from the dark of despair!_

He rushed forward far faster than I expected for a man of his stature, giving me just barely enough time to throw up a stone wall before he practically disintegrated it with his hammer. He let go of his hammer with his left hand, slamming me in the chest with a powerful punch that would have likely broken a couple ribs without my Aura. As it was, the breath left my lungs before winding up and delivering the hammer right into my torso. It was my turn to go flying into a wall of crates, which collapsed around me. _'At least I have cover…'_ was the best thought my brain could manage at the moment.

 _Standing on guard for the ones that we shelter,_

 _We'll always be ready, because we will always be there!_

"You're the Stonebur boy, aren't you?" the Lieutenant called out to me as I lay there in pain. "I've seen you on the news. What is a tech mogul's son doing going around and messing with the Fang?"

Finding some air in my lungs, I called back, "You guys are robbing and kidnapping innocent people who just want to go home to their families. I'm just doing what I can to do the right thing." _'Please keep monologuing, please keep monologuing,'_ I prayed silently, hoping to have some time to gather myself.

"The right thing?" he replied indignantly. _'Yes.'_ "We are fighting for the betterment of our kind, to break free from the oppression our ancestors had forced upon them by you filthy humans! We fight for the freedom and respect of the Faunus! How is that not right and just?"

"When you start kidnapping innocents and murdering people completely unaffiliated with your abusers!" I slowly stood, propping myself up with my hammer. _'Okay, I got my hands on that hammer. Semblance, do your thing.'_ I let my Semblance work, giving me the workings of his weapon in my mind. _'If I can take out those jets, it won't hit as hard as it did. And if I strike that one point… bingo. Game time.'_ "When you start attacking people just because they're human, you're no longer just. I'd argue you're just as bad as the ones you call enemies!"

 _I hope and pray, that you'll never need me_

 _But rest assured I will not let you down…_

"How dare you accuse us of being on their level?" he roared, outraged. "Stand up and come eat your words, you prissy rich fool!"

"Oh, with pleasure." I switched to my Keyblade and set my feet, ready to launch once more. I pushed as much power as I could into the earth around me, ready to fly.

 _I walk beside you, but you may not see me,_

 _The strongest among you may not wear a crown!_

Blasting forward with a launch from an earth pillar, I soared straight for the Lieutenant, blade at my side. He fired up the hammer, swinging for my head. I spun quickly and spiraled around the swing, the head passing inches from my head. _'Oof, that was too close.'_ I landed behind the Faunus, ready to put my plan into action. "Nice try, but it's my turn!"

 _On that day when you need your brothers and sisters to care,_

 _I'll be right here!_

I threw my Keyblade as hard as I could, aiming straight for the hammer's jets. My throw was true, sticking right in the middle of the three exhaust holes. "Fire!" I shouted, and my Keyblade initiated the basic attack, igniting the Fire Dust inside the hammer and immediately triggering a volatile explosion. The Lieutenant was blasted back, and as the smoke cleared I summoned the Keyblade back to my hand, already running forward for the next strike. He brought his hammer up to block with the shaft, exactly what I wanted him to do. Channeling as much might as I could, I swung down at the exact middle of the shaft, striking its structural weak point with the force of an earthquake. It snapped like a toothpick.

"NO! How?!"

 _On that day when you don't have the strength for the burden you bear,_

 _I'll be right here!_

"I'm done with you and your friends!" I shouted, switching back to the warhammer. "It's over for all of you!" I rushed him, hammer already in motion and slamming the Lieutenant into the concrete before swapping to Quake Buster and laying down several slashes in quick succession, lashing out again and again with Earth-boosted swings.

 _Citizen soldiers, holding the light_

 _For the ones that we guide from the dark of despair!_

Switching to the hammer for the finale, I used an upward swing to fling the Lieutenant into the air, launching after him with a pillar. "What goes up…" I shouted, before striking with the hardest overhead swing I could muster. The Lieutenant hit the ground with devastating force, a large crater forming around the impact zone.

 _Standing on guard for the ones that we shelter,_

 _We'll always be ready, because we will always be there!_

"Must come down," I finished, landing on my feet. I straightened, looking at the remaining Fang members. "Anyone else want a shot?" The terrified looks I got told me the answer was no. "Good." I pulled a small projector device out of my pocket. "Then there'll be no objections if I freeze you?" I pointed the projector at the Faunus and pressed a small button on the top.

* * *

 _"_ _Police found a group of White Fang inside a Dust Warehouse last night,"_ the female anchor reported. _"The members of the Faunus group seemed to be paralyzed by some unknown method. The officers on scene found no evidence of who stopped the members, only that there was a large struggle and that their apparent leader suffered massive, yet nonfatal injuries. They did find a small device, and a note saying simply 'Press to release.' Indeed, the suspects were released from paralysis upon pressing the button, leading Vale PD to believe that the creator of the device was the one who stopped the Fang. If you have any information regarding who this mysterious savior is, please contact the authorities so that they may receive the thanks they deserve. This is Lisa Lavender, reporting."_

I turned the TV off, letting a small smile flicker across my face. "Sir," a maid called out, stepping into my room. "There are two visitors here who wish to see you at the front door."

"Thank you, Ishi," I replied, hopping off my bed. "I'll go meet them." I dismissed her before heading to the front of the house. The two who greeted me, a mature man and and a woman, were unexpectedly familiar.

"Hello, Mr. Stonebur," the man started, his silver hair, green scarf, and glasses giving away his identity to me immediately. "How was your night?"

* * *

 **B- Tyler Blackquill**

 **R- Roark Stonebur**

 **E-**

 **K-**

* * *

 **Song- Citizen Soldiers by 3 Doors Down**

 **Hello again, it's me! This is the second trailer chapter, this time in 1st person! Not much else to really say on this one. I wrote all four Trailer chapters in advance, so all four are going up tonight. Then we'll see about the true Chapter 1.**

 **This is GoldenCyclone4, signing off.**


	3. Chapter E- Erebus

**BREK Chapter E- Erebus**

 **Disclaimer- RWBY is owned by RoosterTeeth. Kingdom Hearts is owned by Square Enix and Disney. I own nothing but my own characters.**

* * *

 _"_ _Darkness searches for her purpose…"_

 _-Ancient Remnian Prophecy, Line 3_

 _"_ _Wake up, my dear."_ The unfamiliar voice broke through my slumber, and I opened my eyes, startled. The first thing I noticed is that I was falling.

"Wha-? WHAAAAA!" I screamed, flailing in the air as I descended in darkness, unable to see anything around me.

 _"_ _Be calm, young one,"_ the voice spoke again. _"You are safe for now. Please, look down."_ I stopped flailing and looked down. What I saw shocked me. It looked like a pillar that stretched down into the black abyss. The surface was like stained glass, with an image of myself along the left side, seemingly resting along the rim. In the center were four circles, each with a portrait inside. Two of them I recognized- A boy with chocolate hair and hazel eyes, and a girl with fiery red hair and emerald eyes. But the other two, a boy with black hair and violet eyes, and a girl with polar white hair and green eyes, I had never seen before. My attention was drawn to the weapon the image of me held in her right hand. It was a blade, with its center dark as night, with silver and violet highlights along the edges. At its end it had a protrusion on its side, shaped into a silver crescent moon. Its hilt was guarded on both sides by a sleek and sharp design, sloping sharply backwards from the meeting point at the blade's base and ending in sharp points below the end of the hilt before sweeping back to join at the pommel. From said pommel hung a chain with a charm in the shape of the same crescent moon. I recognized the shape of the weapon easily, even if I didn't know this particular appearance.

"A Keyblade," I breathed, unable to comprehend what I was seeing. "And this… A Dive to the Heart? Is this some sort of dream?"

 _"_ _I can assure you, my dear, this is quite real. You are about to embark on a journey that will decide the fate of many. You have been brought here to prepare yourself and to be tested to ensure you are up to this great burden."_

"What?" I asked, incredulous. By this time, the pillar was close. As I neared the ground, I felt myself slow in the air before flipping around, landing softly on my feet. "What are you talking about? What journey, what test?"

 _"_ _You, along with several others, have a great task ahead of you. Evil is threatening another world, and it is up to you to turn the tides in the favor of good."_

"How?" I implored, needing way more information. "I don't have any special abilities or powers. What am I supposed to do?"

 _"_ _Correction,"_ the voice replied gently, _"You didn't have any powers. Now you do. Emily Blackquill, you have been selected to use the power of shadow to defeat an ancient evil. With that power comes much strength and capability, including the weapon you see below you."_

"The Keyblade?"

 _"_ _Yes._ Your _Keyblade, Night Shade. The spirit of your blade will tell you what you need to know. If you succeed in this trial, you will be ready to face the dangers that await. I wish you luck."_ With that, I could feel the presence of the voice vanish.

"Wait! How do I…?" I trailed off as I saw the aforementioned blade appear in my hand. "How did I…?"

 _"_ _So you're the new Master, huh?"_ a new voice spoke up. The voice was masculine, with a bit of razor edge to it, but not very deep. _"I'm your Keyblade's spirit. You can call me Shade. There'll be time for formal introductions later. We've got incoming."_

"Huh?" I looked around, trying to find the "incoming." As I glanced up, I saw someone else falling towards the pillar. He landed hard on his feet, rising quickly. The figure, likely male, wore a completely concealing black cloak. With how far the cloak's hood was pulled forward, I couldn't even see his face, but the cloak itself was very familiar to me. "Organization XIII?" I asked incredulously.

The figure shook his head, before sweeping his right arm forward. The area around me was filled with puddles of pure shadow, from which a group of strange creatures appeared. They seemed to be bipedal wolves with white masks of bone upon their faces, and glowing red-yellow eyes. I could tell these things were definitely hostile. "Shade?" I asked aloud. "Uh… what do I have for these things?" A quick count revealed at least twenty, and a sword wasn't going to help me much with those numbers.

 _"_ _I can turn into a scythe,"_ he said casually.

 _'_ _That works.'_ I had some practice with the weapon. _'How?'_

 _"_ _Think about it."_ The hint was vague, but I understood. I held out the hand that held my blade and focused upon it.

 _We once were as one, but now nothing remains…_

 _Even in twilight the colors have all changed…_

The blade disappeared, before a simple scythe appeared in a cloud of darkness. Taking it in hand, I struck out at the wolf creatures around me. A horizontal swing bit into the first enemy, leaving a deep gash. I spun back, pulling the scythe out and turning it on a pair of beasts aiming for my chest, slamming the blunt end of the scythe into them. With a spinning flourish, I ran right into the thick of the pack.

I leaped up, slashing down as I fell and splitting a wolf in two. A spinning cut followed, breaking through two more and leaving them halved. I leapt back from a claw swipe and parried another before spinning the scythe clockwise to knock the parried wolf off-balance.

 _Tell me the reason I gave you my hand and you took it,_

 _Only to push me away!_

I continued the spin and leveled it out, cutting straight into another pair of wolves, before slamming the blade into the ground. I used the shaft to support myself as I swung around, kicking away the beasts around me. With room to breathe, I reached out to Shade. _'Do I have any ranged options?'_

 _Soon your heart will be cold to the touch, frozen over…_

 _And you'll be drifting astray!_

 _"_ _You can turn the scythe into paired chain scythes. Or you can use your Darkness element. Your choice, sweetheart."_

 _'_ _Don't call me sweetheart.'_ I focused again and shifted the scythe into a pair of smaller hand scythes. They were noticeably lacking the titular chains though. _'Shade?'_

 _"_ _Use your element to make the chains. Come, on, be creative!"_ Following his advice, I channeled my new power down to my scythes, forming chains of physical shadow. I threw the left scythe out, and it moved almost like it was somehow alive, moving straight towards a wolf and slashing into it, quickly killing it.

 _'_ _Oh. Cool.'_

 _If this life is what fate has in store,_

 _A white lie of promise of something more…_

 _We'll close our eyes, we'll enter the grace of this cold winter sky…_

With the new scythes in hand, I became a whirling force, slashing straight through the wolves and tearing them to shreds. A clockwise spin of both blades took out four wolves, while a jumping forward spin struck down another two. Channeling my Darkness powers, I dipped into my own shadow, rushing forward and emerging in the midst of the remaining wolves, large scythe in hand. Slamming the blade into the ground created a ring of black spikes around me, skewering the last foes.

 _We once were as one but now nothing remains,_

 _Only the void of words we fail to convey,_

 _Even the distance between us lies without revival…_

The sound of a weapon being summoned made me turn my head back towards the cloaked figure. In his hand was a blade shaped like an outstretched crimson bat wing, the ribbing along it a dark violet or black. It was also startlingly familiar to me. ' _Wait, is that…?'_ I didn't have time to complete my thought as the figure rushed towards me, blade in hand and ready to strike. I barely had enough time to throw up my weapons in a feeble attempt to block before he lashed out with a diagonal cut, launching me backwards. I landed hard on my back, dropping the scythes as I struggled to my feet. He wasn't done, though, already running towards me for another blow. I quickly summoned my Keyblade, this time meeting his own sword in a clash.

 _We once were as one, but now nothing remains,_

 _Even in twilight, the colors have all changed,_

 _Under the moonlight we're destined to fall deep in slumber…_

 _Where we may find peace at last!_

"Who are you?" I asked, struggling against the figure's nearly inhuman strength.

"Who I am isn't important," he answered, the voice confirming my suspicions. "What matters is whether or not you can win." With a grunt, he shoved me back before slashing the blade across my body, launching me towards the edge of the pillar. I again landed hard, rolling towards the ledge as my Keyblade went over into the darkness. "If you can't even defeat me, you won't last ten seconds where you're going."

 _'_ _Gah, this guy is tough…'_ My entire torso was burning with pain, and my right shoulder was not helping matters. _'How the hell am I gonna beat this guy?'_

 _"_ _That all you got?"_ Shade spoke up in my head. _"Come on. Let me let you in on a secret. If you can't stop this guy, your brother is gonna be on his own. Don't you wanna help him? Fight alongside him? If you don't get up right now and give it everything you've got, you won't ever see him again."_

 _'_ _What?'_ I replied, shocked. _'Tyler is part of this too?'_ I thought of my brother, alone in a new world, acting the same way he always did. No, worse, because he'd have lost someone else.

 _'_ _No.'_ I told Shade, slowly struggling to my feet. _'I promised I'd watch out for him. There's no damn way I'm going to fall here, not if it means I'll lose him.'_

 _Life goes on, so passionately_

 _As long as I'm alive and breathing,_

As I finally found my feet, I found my opponent waiting, sword to his side and patiently standing by. "So you're not giving up? Good." He fell into a ready stance, sword hand high and blade running parallel to the ground, his feet set wide and his off hand outstretched below the blade.

 _'_ _Shade? How do I pull out the rest of my power?'_

 _"_ _You already know. Just focus and use your feelings."_ I nodded, doing just that. I felt the power surge immediately.

 _Even if I lose sight of who I am,_

 _I will continue on, so it all can start again!_

I felt rather than saw an aura of shadow surround and empower me. I held out my left hand, summoning my Keyblade once more. A smirk crossed my lips before I blasted towards the figure with a pulse of darkness. I reached my target and lashed out with my weapon, breaking through his guard with an upward swing, using the momentum of the attack to spin around and land an unguarded slash across his torso. I pulled power into my hand, slamming my right fist into the figure's head and knocking him back. I kept my momentum, striking out with both Keyblade and fist, not letting up and not giving him any chance to reprise.

 _We once were as one, but now nothing remains,_

 _Only the void of words we fail to convey,_

 _Even the distance between us lies without revival…_

As I kept up my assault, my vision seemed to flash. I was suddenly watching myself attacking the figure, but an upward swing I had been planning to gamble on completely whiffed, letting him back away and charge up a technique I knew very well- Dark Aura. The resulting flurry of blows against this other me left her completely incapacitated, ending her chances of victory. With another flash, I was back. _'Was that…?'_ I had no time to complete that thought, as I was flowing into my next blow. Instead of the upward slash I had planned, I instead slashed low near the figure's legs, knocking him off his feet. A quick rush of sword swings followed.

 _We once were as one, but now nothing remains,_

 _Even in twilight, the colors have all changed,_

 _Under the moonlight, we're destined to fall deep in slumber…_

 _Where we may find peace at last!_

 _'_ _Let's end this.'_ I used a pulse of shadow to send myself into the air. Switching back to the scythe, I channeled Shadow power into the blade and let it guide my actions. I drew out the shape of the crescent moon in front of me, the spectral lines created by my movements trapping the figure. I blasted forward, hurtling towards the pillar and ready to deliver the ending blow. I struck, cutting through my foe with one single full-powered slash, landing on one knee.

As I stood up from my strike, I dismissed my scythe and turned towards my foe. The force from the blow had dislodged his hood, revealing a man with silver hair framing a rugged face and aquamarine eyes. He had a small smirk. "Heh. Well done, Emily."

"You know my name?" I asked incredulously. "Wait, we're inside my mind, duh. Of course you know that."

"She gets it in one. Excellent." He shook his head. "Regardless, you've proven yourself strong enough to wield the power of Shadow." He held out his hand. "You are worthy to become my successor. I wish you luck on your journey." An orb of shadow appeared in his outstretched palm. "Perhaps we'll meet again." He lobbed the ball of shadow at my head. I barely had time to blink before it connected and I lost consciousness.

* * *

"Gah, my head... " I moaned as I sat up. "Did he really have to…" I trailed off, noticing I was not at home in my bed, but on the ground in a forest. "Oh. Well fuck."

* * *

 **B- Tyler Blackquill**

 **R- Roark Stonebur**

 **E- Emily Blackquill**

 **K-**

* * *

 **Song- Anna ni Issho Datta no Ni English Cover by Amanda Lee**

 **And here we are at the third trailer chapter! Admittedly, I feel this is the weakest of the four. It was hard creating a scenario for Emily. As a side note, I cut the second verse of the song to avoid dragging out the fight. As always, comments and constructive critics are welcomed gladly.**

 **This is GoldenCyclone4, signing off.**


	4. Chapter K- Kindred Light

**BREK Chapter K- Kindred Light**

 **Disclaimer- RWBY is owned by RoosterTeeth. Kingdom Hearts is owned by Square Enix and Disney. I own nothing but my own characters.**

* * *

 _"_ _Golden wings shalt bring Light."_

 _-Ancient Remnian Prophecy, Line 4_

* * *

The sun flickering across my face through the leaves of the trees woke me from the small nap I had been taking in a decently high branch. As I shook the sleep off and took a look around, I smiled to myself. _'Only a few miles to go, Kana,'_ I told myself. _'Soon you'll be in Vale.'_ I grabbed my pack from a higher branch and hopped down to the forest floor. A quick walk brought me out of the treeline and back onto the main path I had been following for the past few weeks.

After about an hour of walking, I decided to take a small break. Pulling out a small ration bar, I sat down and started eating. My snack was interrupted, however, by a party of three men in light armor travelling from the direction I had come from. The leader, a tall and rugged man with what looked to be a gunblade strapped to his back, called out to me. "Hey, girlie! You wouldn't happen to know if a Faunus girl about your age came by here, would ya?"

 _'_ _Does he not see my tail?'_ I thought, said limb twitching behind me. I decided to keep things friendly, hoping they were peaceful. "Um, no. I mean, I'm a Lion Faunus girl. Maybe you were looking for me?"

The man chuckled, giving me an uncomfortable grin. "As a matter of fact, we are looking for a Lion Faunus. Would your name be Kana?"

I nodded, already getting less than pleasant vibes from the trio. "Why would you be looking for me?"

The man's face grew dark. "Well, let's just say that we took a contract from a buddy of ours. He said his old friend wanted his favorite toy back." Upon seeing my shocked face, he chuckled. "Looks like we found it."

Panic set in at his words. _'Crap, these guys have to be mercenaries. And those weapons scream Huntsmen. They're gonna try and take me back there… I was so close…'_ I could feel tears welling in my eyes.

 _"_ _Milady, please don't cry…"_ a now familiar voice spoke in my head. _"You aren't the scared little girl who was rescued from that awful lab anymore. You're strong, you can fight!"_

 _'_ _But what if I can't, Bright?'_ I asked my Keyblade Spirit.

 _"_ _Would you rather just give up now? Or do you want to take a chance and fight?"_ She made a good point. I wiped the beginnings of my tears away, standing up and facing the trio.

"I don't know why you would take a request from that psycho," I began, "but you'll be leaving empty-handed."

The leader laughed out loud. "That's a good one, girlie. What're you gonna say next, that we should 'leave now before we get hurt?'"

"Yes, actually." I held out my hands and focused my power into them. A golden shine appeared, before coalescing into a pair of blaster pistols. I held them up, aiming right for the trio. "Leave. Now. Or I will fight, and I WILL win."

"So the lion has found her courage," the left Huntsman spoke up as he pulled a pair of what looked to be arrowguns from his back. "Let's see if her roar is as powerful as her fangs." The other two grabbed their weapons, the leader with his gunblade and the right Huntsman using tonfas.

 _You and I, we both know well,_

 _We couldn't do this by ourselves,_

"Alright. Then let's do this." Before any of them could rush me, I used my Light power to fire off a blinding flash, momentarily leaving them unable to see. I leapt back and began firing before they could recover, peppering them with bolts of light. The first one to recover was the tonfa user, who rocketed towards me with a Dust blast from the backs of his weapons. Thinking quickly, I transformed one of my blasters, the top flipping around and the hilt going parallel to the stock to become a one-handed blade. I blocked the swing of the man's tonfa before blasting him in the face. He staggered back, dazed.

 _And every day, it's all the same,_

 _You picked me up when down I fell._

An arrow bolt whizzed by my head, and I turned my attention to the sniper, who had recovered and was trying to take potshots at me while I fought his ally. I fired back with my remaining blaster, forcing him to duck behind a nearby boulder for cover. I turned back to the tonfa user in time to take a tonfa to my gut. I pulled back to avoid further hits, glancing around for the leader.

 _But I'm still standing through and through,_

 _I know exactly what to do,_

The tonfa wielder rushed, but I threw up a wall of light to keep him off me, already changing my other blaster to a sword and blocking a slash from the leader as he struck from behind. "So you can fight, girlie," he taunted, adding more force to our locked blades. "But are you able to fight three trained Huntsmen?"

 _I'll give it everything I've got,_

 _Although I'm not stronger than you…_

"How can you call yourselves Huntsmen if you take requests from scum like him?" I shot back. "Huntsmen and Huntresses should be honorable and just!" I pushed back, using my blades to catch his and shove him away.

"Aw, we've got a naive idealist here," he sneered at me. "Girlie, when you grow up, you'll learn Lien makes the world go round." He slashed again, low and trying to catch my feet. I parried, leaping backwards.

 _But I'll be your shield, I can be your lion,_

 _I'll dry your eyes when I see you cryin',_

 _Believe in me, and I won't let you down!_

I flipped over the tonfa wielder as he ran towards me from behind, landing and lashing out with a crossing slash. He stumbled away as his leader took his place. I spun past his thrust with the gunblade, watching another arrow bolt soar past me as well. A quick shift to blaster mode with my right blade put the sniper behind cover again. A Dust round from the gunblade glanced off my shoulder, and I turned my attention back to the two melee users.

 _But now we've come so far,_

 _I know just who we are!_

 _And we shine brighter than any gem_

 _Between us and the sun!_

The tonfa wielder blasted towards me again, and I responded with several blaster rounds that slowed his momentum. Another round from the gunblade flew by my head, and I quickly realized that trying to fight all three Huntsmen at once would end with me down and out. I backpedaled, laying down some covering fire on the melee fighters as I shot a quick question to Bright. _'Bright, I need something to isolate them.'_

 _Now it's just you and me,_

 _Like it was meant to be,_

 _"_ _Summon me, milady. Your spellcasting might not be too advanced, but I can place a Slow spell on them so you can handle the gunman."_

I quickly did as I was told, dismissing my blasters and summoning my Keyblade, Bright Shine, into my right hand. The blade was a radiant gold, with a slender shaft decorated to appear like it was coated in sparkling stars. The teeth of the blade took the appearance of a rising sun, its rays arranged in a circle round it. The hilt guard started from the end of the shaft and wrapped around, thinning out as it continued and reunited with the other end at a nearly razor-thin point. From the pommel hung a charm with a similar design as the teeth. Pointing the blade at my foes, I shouted, "Slow!"

 _And I'll protect you,_

 _I'll defend you,_

 _If you Let Me Try!_

 _We'll stay together,_

 _Now and forever,_

 _Just Let Me Try!_

Magic power gathered at the tip of my blade and shot out at the two Huntsmen, encircling them and slowing their movements to a crawl. "What the hell?" the leader shouted. "The fuck kinda freak are you?" I ignored him, already running straight towards the boulder the sniper had been using for cover. I leapt over it, landing on my feet and swinging out with my Keyblade. The sniper was ready, meeting my blow with one of his arrowguns. His parry knocked me off-balance, but I recovered in time to block his follow-up. I put as much force as I could muster into my next blow, knocking his right gun away. Capitalizing, I went on the offense, striking out with slash after slash.

 _You and I, yeah we both know,_

 _We couldn't do this on our own,_

A slash from the left contacted his other hand, making him drop his other gun in pain. Fully disarmed, I quickly laid into him, landing a pair of spinning slashes before delivering a Light-boosted kick to send him sprawling, his Aura depleted. _'Some Huntsman. His Aura went down really fast.'_

 _You say you're fighting for my mother,_

 _But won't see how much I've grown_.

Several Fire rounds slammed into the boulder behind me, and I looked to see the leader and his lackey had recovered from the Slow spell. With their sniper friend gone, I leapt to the top of the boulder and resummoned my blasters. I charged two bolts of light, firing them off with much more power than usual.

 _But I can't believe everything that I'm told!_

 _I'll fight til the end when I'm young and when I'm old!_

The two bolts slammed the Huntsmen, knocking them back a few paces. I was already jumping down, hitting the ground running with my blades at my sides. The tonfa user had recovered first, and I was met with a projection of him slamming me in the face with a spectral tonfa. _'Projection Semblance! Crap!'_ I used the momentum from the blow to flip backwards, landing in time to block the true blow from the man. I used a small light pulse to knock him back enough that I could get my bearings.

 _But I'll be your shield, I can be your lion,_

 _I'll dry your eyes when I see you cryin',_

 _Believe in me, and I won't let you down!_

Switching to my blades, I decided to go on the offensive again. I rushed the tonfa Huntsman, not giving him a single moment to recover from my attacks. An upward slash knocked his balance off, leaving him open to a crosswise slash from both blades. I forced light Energy into the blades and spun, striking him several times in rapid succession with the boosted weapons and quickly wearing down his Aura.

 _And now we've come so far,_

 _I know just who we are!_

 _And we shine brighter than any gem_

 _Between us and the sun!_

I kicked the tonfa user in the stomach to finish off his Aura, launching him away from me. He landed and rolled, but I was already spinning to parry the leader's gunblade. "You are so dead, you little brat!" he snarled, swinging the heavy blade at my defenses again and again.

"I thought you needed me alive!" I spit back through grit teeth, trying my best to withstand the onslaught.

 _Now it's just you and me,_

 _Like it was meant to be!_

 _And I'll protect you, I'll defend you,_

 _If you Let Me Try!_

His heavy blows wore my stance down bit by bit, eventually dropping me to my knees. "Damn the money," he replied, kicking me in the stomach and sending me sprawling. "Now it's a matter of respect, you little bitch."

 _We'll stay together, now and forever,_

 _Just Let Me Try!_

 _"_ _Milady, are you alright? Can you keep going?"_ My Spirit's voice was filled with worry.

 _'_ _I'm okay, Bright. I can… I can keep going.'_ My body hurt all over, but I could still feel my Aura. I wasn't out yet.

 _"_ _Milady, as much as I know you dislike it, you need to stop holding back. Keeping them hidden only drains your Aura, and weakens you. Let go and use your full power!"_

 _Stay with me,_

 _Fight with me,_

 _Victory's abound!_

 _'_ _I know. You're right. Let's do this then.'_ I slowly struggled to my feet, using my blades to support me as I stood. "Alright," I said aloud. "You asked for this."

The man merely cackled. "Aw, is the little kitty finally going to show her claws? Bring it on."

 _Now we've got this,_

 _You can't stop us,_

 _And I won't let you down!_

I felt my Semblance flare, then deactivate, revealing my secret to the world. I distantly heard the man mutter "What in the name of Dust?" before I shut him out, feeling my power swell.

 _I know you never asked to be made!_

I switched my weapons to their gun forms before placing them together, causing them to interlock and become one bigger, more powerful blaster. Lifting up into the air, I charged a blast in the chamber, channeling a spell into the bolt. "Nova Burst!"

 _But now we've come so far,_

 _I know just who we are,_

 _And we shine brighter than any gem_

 _Between us and the sun…_

The blast sent him flying, and his gunblade went soaring off into the nearby trees. I dived towards him, shifting the blaster cannon into the shape of a greatsword hilt. Channeling my Light energy activated the hilt, and a large blade of pure light emerged. I swung the blade in a descending arc, slamming him with the full power of the weapon.

 _But now we've come so far,_

 _I know just who we are,_

 _And we shine brighter than any gem_

 _Between us and the sun!_

I continued my assault, slamming my foe with blow after blow from the light sword. An upward slash sent him flying into the air.

 _Now it's just you and me,_

 _Like it was meant to be,_

I rocketed into the air above him, preparing the final strike. I let my blade travel in a circular arc, creating the spectral image of a sun in front of me. I closed my eyes, channeling as much power as I could into the weapon. As I opened them, I called out my final blow. "SOLAR SLASH!" And I dived. I cut straight through his Aura and sent him slamming into the ground below.

 _And I'll protect you,_

 _I'll defend you,_

 _If you Let Me Try!_

 _We'll stay together,_

 _Now and forever,_

 _Just Let Me Try!_

I landed on one knee, blade at my side. I dismissed the weapon and slowly got to my feet. I walked over to the leader, who was somehow still conscious after all that. "Do you understand now?" I asked him. "I said I wasn't going back. If you had lived through that madman's experiments, you would say the same."

"What the hell are you?" He croaked. "What kind of freak did he create?"

I tensed, but brushed off his words. "I'm Kana. Kana Brightwing." I reactivated my Semblance, once more concealing my secret. "I'll be sure to let the VPD know you're out here when I get to Vale. Until then, you should be safe." and with that, I set out once more.

* * *

"Professor Ozpin, Ms Brightwing is here like you requested." The silver-haired Headmaster of Beacon looked up from the security drone footage he had been rewatching, seeing Professor Goodwitch standing with a young teen.

"Thank you, Glynda," he replied. The other professor nodded before turning and leaving the room. He then turned to his new guest. "Miss Kana Brightwing."

"T-that's me," she stuttered, obviously nervous. "You wanted to see me, Professor?"

"As a matter of fact, I did." He returned his attention to the footage playing in front of him. "Two days ago, the Vale Police Department received an anonymous tip about three rogue Huntsmen who had been defeated and left about twenty miles outside of Vale. Upon learning of this, they sought out us, as Beacon consistently sends drones out to check for Grimm activity. As it so happened, we had a drone in the area at the time which caught the conflict. A single young teen took out three trained Huntsmen, using some seemingly magical power." He looked up at the girl, a small smirk alighting on his face. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about this incident, would you?"

She let out a rather sheepish chuckle. "Uh… yeah, I might know a little bit about it…" Her face turned to worry. "Did… did I do something wrong?"

The headmaster shook his head. "No, you defended yourself, by all reports, rather admirably in fact. Where did a young lady such as yourself learn combat like that?"

"I… wanted to be a Huntress, but I couldn't go to a primary combat school. A local Huntsman agreed to train me. But his training only went so far." She met Ozpin's eyes, determination burning in her gaze. A new confidence entered her voice. "So I decided to travel here, to Beacon, and take the entrance exam."

"You wish to slay monsters?"

"No. Well, yes, I get that killing Grimm is a part of the job, but… I want to help people. I want to protect the ones who can't protect themselves."

Ozpin's smirk widened. He stood, walking around his desk to stand in front of the girl. "Well, it's not often we get someone so sure of their goal. If what we saw was any indication, you should be able to pass the entrance exam for this school without issue." Kana's face brightened at the praise. "However, I do have one question. Why do you hide who you are, Ms Brightwing?"

Her face fell immediately. "With all due respect, Professor, Faunus already get a lot of flak. I really don't want to add fuel to the fire." She shook her head. "Even though I'm sure there are those who wouldn't care… I don't want to deal with those who do."

Ozpin merely nodded. "Very well. It is entirely your decision. Just remember, my door is always open if you need to talk." He gestured to the elevator doors. "Now then, I believe you have a test to get to?"

After the girl had left, he turned back to his desk, pulling up a file. "So Earth and Light have appeared… What are you planning…?"

* * *

 **B- Tyler Blackquill**

 **R- Roark Stonebur**

 **E- Emily Blackquill**

 **K- Kana Brightwing**

* * *

 **Song- Let Me Try by Nathan Sharp**

 **And here is the fourth and final trailer chapter. Kana was an interesting character for me to write, as I have to play a lot of Pronoun Games. CinemaSins would be ashamed...**

 **With all four now done, I can start on Chapter 1. If all things go as planned, it should be up by next Friday. As always, please leave comments and criticism to help an author out!**

 **This is GoldenCyclone4, signing off.**


	5. Chapter 1- The Winds of Change

**BREK Chapter 1: The Winds of Change**

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by RoosterTeeth. Kingdom Hearts is owned by Square Enix and Disney. I own nothing but my own characters.

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Location Unknown**

There were two things different when I awoke from when I fell asleep. The first, and most noticeable, was that I was not in my bedroom and on my bed, but rather on the ground of an unknown forest. The second was that I was not wearing my usual sleep clothes, but instead an entirely unfamiliar outfit. Quickly taking a check of all my limbs to make sure nothing was injured, I got to my feet and gave my new clothes a cursory glance. It looked to be a light combat outfit, with a lightly armored vest over a simple undershirt covering my chest, and similar light armor covering the loose pants I now wore. A quick pat of my chest ensured that my pendant still hung around my neck. It was an outfit meant for mobility, complete with comfortable boots and admittedly nice gloves. My issue was that it was so blindingly _white._ Every bit of the outfit was the color of fresh snow, except the armor, which was still a polished steel color.

' _Seriously?'_ I grumbled internally. ' _You drop me in the middle of a forest and make me stick out like a goddamn zebra?'_ I sighed before brushing a stray lock of hair from my eyes. ' _I suppose there's no real use in complaining. I need to find some high ground and figure out where the fuck I am…'_

My thoughts trailed off as I heard a low growl from the nearby undergrowth. ' _Wolves? Here? Great.'_ I turned towards the source of the sound. As I did, _something_ emerged. It certainly looked like a wolf, minus the fact that it was bipedal and black as pitch. The only bits of color on it were the whites of its claws and the glowing red-orange eyes. ' _The fuck is that thing?!'_ I innately knew that this thing was not some ordinary animal, and that I wouldn't be able to scare it off by acting big and tough.

The sound of several other growls only added to my exasperation. The sound of footsteps confirmed that more of these wolf creatures had arrived. ' _Pack animals. Yay.'_ The beast I was facing crouched, obviously preparing to charge. ' _Oh, the day just gets better and better.'_ I knew that if I was going to make it out of here, I would need to fight. Somehow. Without any weapons. ' _Fuck.'_ Still, I refused to die without at least trying. I took a ready stance, feet wide and arms held in front of me. The beast charged, running on all fours before leaping towards me. I threw my fist out…

...And the beast went flying backwards into a tree with a blast of wind. ' _Wait, what?'_ I looked between the fallen beast and my hand, still swirling with wind. ' _Aerokinesis? This is just like...'_ The growls of the other wolves stopped that line of thought. ' _Doesn't matter. I can fight. So let's fight.'_ I turned towards my foes. "Alright then," I declared, in case they had some sort of intelligence. "Who's next?" A wolf to my right howled before rushing me. I swung my arm horizontally, causing a blade of air to slash through the beast and bisecting it at the waist. ' _Impressive.'_ As another wolf charged, I jumped, pushing this new power into my feet and letting me soar over my foes. As I landed, I slammed my palm into the ground, creating a blast of wind to knock the beasts away from me.

' _So… looks like I can base my moves off Aerokinesis techniques I've seen.'_ I glanced around, trying to count the amount of beasts in the clearing with me. ' _So let's see if this works.'_ I held out my left hand in front of me and concentrated. As I did, Air rushed into my hand, forming into the vague shape of a blade. What it fully formed into, however, was a bit of a shock. The blade itself had a fairly simple shaft design, but it was surrounded by a swirling cyclone that ran from the hilt to the tip. It had an additional piece at the end that stuck out, shaped much like a spiral of air. The hiltguards were designed to look like gray tornadoes, and met at both ends of the hilt. From the pommel hung a small charm that had the same spiral of air design. I had seen this weapon before, but I couldn't believe it was actually in my hand. ' _Sky's Guardian? You have got to be fucking with me. That wasn't a dream?'_ Once again, a wolf interrupted my thoughts by leaping towards me. Reflexively, I swung the Keyblade, which cut through the foe like butter. As the now two pieces of the wolf hit the ground, I was already moving towards another foe.

' _Well, this thing works. Unsure as to how, but it works.'_ I parried a swipe from one of the wolves and replied with a spinning slash to the head. A backwards leap over another wolf led into a quick strike and another dead enemy. Another glance around the clearing revealed another ten or so wolves still remaining. ' _Maybe I can call the other one?'_ I held my empty hand out and tried once more to concentrate. Instead of air, the energy that rushed to my hand felt almost mythical in nature, like a powerful magic. It coalesced into a second Keyblade, which looked far different to the one I already held. Its basic design was similar, but that was where the similarities ended. The shaft was golden compared to the first's silver, and a pair of royal purple ribbons spiraled down the weapon to the hilt. Upon the ribbons were strange runic symbols that glowed with a gleaming power. The teeth of the blade was a violet eight-pointed star, and a charm of the same design dangled from the pommel. The hilt guards were a simple silver, sweeping out before conjoining at the pommel.

' _You have got to be shitting me. So that Dive to the Heart was real after all?'_ The energy of this blade certainly felt different than the one in my left. That same mystical feel radiated from it. ' _Screw it. Worst thing that happens is I look like an idiot.'_ I pointed the new Keyblade at a pair of wolves. I tried to channel the energy I felt into the blade, and shouted, "Fire!" To my bemusement, a large ball of fire formed at the tip of the Keyblade, before launching itself at the wolves and exploding in their midst, sending them both flying. I rushed in and slashed with both my blades, ending them quickly.

' _Perfect. So which spell had AoE effects?'_ I thought back to what I remembered about Keyblades. ' _Oh yeah.'_ By the time I jogged my memory, the remaining wolves were rushing me. "Good. Thunder!" I pointed my right blade straight up, summoning lightning bolts to rain down upon the wolves. The bolts paralyzed them, and I rushed in to finish the job. As I did, I felt something slip into my mind- a powerful finishing attack played out in my head, and as it finished, I felt the name wedge itself in my memory.

' _Alright. Fine then.'_ Focusing on the wolves, I used the invocation I had been given. "Skyspin Slasher!" I felt wind gather around me as I launched myself into the center of the wolf pack. I began to spin, becoming a whirling storm of blades that shredded through the remaining beasts. Upon cutting through the last one, I landed low to the ground, left blade in front of me and right out behind my back. ' _And thus the strong prevail.'_

I rose back to my standing position, catching my breath. After a few seconds of staring at my new weapons, I figured out how to dismiss them from my hands, and they disappeared in a gust of wind and a purple flash, respectively. Hearing no further threats, I sat down with my legs crossed, intending to calm myself and begin thinking about what had just happened. As I closed my eyes to focus, though, my entire world suddenly went blue. ' _Gah! What the hell?'_ Opening my eyes revealed everything to be normal. ' _Okay… let's try this again.'_ I closed my eyes slowly and concentrated, and once more everything turned blue. ' _Alright… so I have some sort of extra sense?'_ I thought to myself. ' _This seems very familiar… where have I seen this before?'_ As I racked my brain, I noticed something with this new sense- two presences nearby, hiding in the treeline. One seemed to burn golden like a small sun, and the other seemed to be wrapped in shadows. And suddenly it clicked. ' _Aura Sensing!'_

Putting the ramifications of this new discovery aside, I stood back up. Turning towards the two presences I had seen, I called out, "I know you're there. Come out now, or you will be treated as a threat and responded to accordingly."

* * *

 **Yang Xiao Long**

 **Emerald Forest**

 **15 Minutes Prior**

"So… You know where we're going, Blake?" I asked my new partner. We had been trudging through forest for about 20 minutes, with no sign of the Forest Temple, and I was _bored._ We hadn't seen any Grimm since those Ursa we took down, and there was really nothing else to do.

She turned back to me, her golden eyes looking at me with a bit of exasperation. "I have a general idea, Yang. There **is** a reason I've been jumping up trees every five minutes." She sighed. "But to be honest, I've just been trying to go in the direction the Professor launched us in."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Inwardly, I was still annoyed. ' _Dang it, Blake, I'm trying to start a conversation.'_ I made to speak again, but Blake suddenly held up her arm.

"Shh. I heard something." Straining my ears, I made out a low growling.

"Beowolves?" I asked quietly. At Blake's nod, I pulled out a new set of rounds for Ember Celica. "Let's go get 'em."

She shook her head. "It sounds like a pack. We can't just charge in. We need to know what we're up against." She rushed into the bushes, somehow being almost completely silent. I followed the best I could, trying to keep quiet. As I caught up, I heard Blake stifle a gasp.

"What's wrong?" I whispered. She pointed into the clearing we had approached, and I was forced to cover my own gasp of shock. Surrounded by Grimm was a young man, likely still a teenager. His clothes seemed to have some sort of light armor, but he had no weapon and was encircled by at least 15 Beowolves. ' _How did a civilian get here?'_ I switched Ember Celica to its active mode. "Blake, we have to help him!"

"Not yet," she replied, shaking her head. "We don't know how many there are, or if an Alpha is nearby."

"He's going to get killed!"

"We will save him. But we can't rush in without a…" She trailed off. Looking back at the clearing, I saw a Grimm rush the boy. I was already rearing back my fist to launch a shell when the boy lashed out with a fist, sending the wolf flying with a blast of wind.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked incredulously. "How did he-?" I cut myself off as he managed to cut a Grimm in half with a blade of Air. What followed was the craziest fight I had ever seen. The boy used these strange Air powers to swiftly down several Grimm. When he held out his hand and made a strange sword appeared, my jaw hit the floor. By the time he pulled out a second one, my mind had given up trying to figure out what was happening. And all the while, Blake watched on, her face completely unreadable.

The boy finished the fight with a technique he called "Skyspin Slasher," and then stared at his weapons before somehow making them vanish again. I looked to my raven-haired partner. "What the Dust was that?" I whispered urgently.

"I… I don't know," she admitted after a moment. She still hadn't taken her eyes off of the boy, who had since sat down in a meditative pose. "I've never seen anything like that. Maybe some extremely powerful Semblance?"

My reply never left my mouth, as the boy suddenly opened his eyes and called out, "I know you're there. Come out now, or you will be treated as a threat and dealt with accordingly." I looked to my partner, shocked. She was apparently caught just as off guard. A few seconds passed in silence, neither of us knowing if he was bluffing, or how to respond. "I won't ask again," he spoke once more, "Come out. Now."

Deciding that I didn't want to see if he was serious, I emerged from the treeline, hands held up near my head. "Uh… hey. What's up?" Blake was a few seconds behind me. "We, uh… saw your fight with the Beowolves. That was pretty awesome."

He tilted his head slightly, as if thinking. "Is that what those things were? Beowolves? Interesting."

"Wait, you didn't know what they were called?" I asked, unbelieving. "Those things are probably the most common Grimm out there. How do you not-?" Blake interrupted me with a hand on my shoulder.

"Not everyone call Grimm by the same name, Yang," She looked at the boy. "Especially those outside the kingdoms. Where are you from?"

"I'm sorry, what?" He seemed genuinely confused. "Grimm? Kingdoms? Where on Earth did I… wait." He trailed off into a string of muttering.

"Wait, wait, wait. You don't know what Grimm are?" This time I was completely shocked. "And the Kingdoms? Vale, Atlus, Mistral, Vacuo?"

"No," he replied. "Understand, what I'm about to say next will likely be hard to believe. I'm not from this world, whatever the hell that may be. I'm from a world called Earth, and we certainly don't have mystic powers or these 'Grimm.'" Seeing our faces, he continued. "I don't know how I wound up in the middle of a forest, or how I suddenly have Aerokinesis. All I know is that I'm here now, by the will of some mysterious force, for a purpose I don't know."

As I was still trying to process this, Blake spoke up. "It seems like a farfetched story," she began, "but your expression and tone tell me you aren't lying. I believe you."

' _Well, if Blake believes him…'_ "Alright, I'll believe you too." I held out my hand. "I'm Yang Xiao Long. This is my partner, Blake Belladonna."

He ignored the hand. "Blackquill." He said simply.

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Emerald Forest**

After giving the two girls my name, I turned to leave. "Hey, where are you going?" Xiao Long called out to me.

"Elsewhere," I replied simply.

"And how will you get there when you have no idea where you are?" Belladonna asked. "You don't even know what world you're on, let alone the smaller stuff."

"I'll find my way."

" _Oh really?"_ A new voice spoke up in my head. " _Why can't you just admit you're lost?"_

I recognized the voice from my Dive to the Heart. ' _I don't need anyone's help, Sky. I would prefer to find my own way.'_

" _And if you run into something you have no idea how to fight? Or someone who completely outmatches you?"_ My Keyblade Spirit shot back. " _Face it, Tyler, you're out of your depth here. You need help, or at the very least a crash course on this world."_

' _ **Don't call me by that name!**_ ' I shouted over our mental link. ' _ **That boy is dead! And for good reason!**_ ' I could feel Sky's presence reel back from my anger. Taking a few seconds to calm down, I continued. ' _But as much as I do not want to admit it, you have a valid point.'_ Sighing, I turned on my heel to face the two natives. "Much as I don't like to admit, you have have a point. I am out of my depth, and have no knowledge of this world. I would… appreciate the help."

Xiao Long grinned. "Alright. Let's get moving then!" At Belladonna's nod, they set off into the forest, with me close behind.

* * *

 **Ozpin**

 **Emerald Forest**

Both professors looked at their screens, still digesting what they had just seen. "Professor Ozpin," Goodwitch began, choosing her words carefully. "Do you have any knowledge about what just occurred?"

He did not reply at first, taking a long draw from his coffee. "Glydna," he said at last. "Do you recall our meetings with Miss Brightwing and Mister Stonebur?" At her nod, he continued. "Something has been put in motion. Something likely out of our control, instigated by a force we likely cannot comprehend. Those two, along with the two we have just witnessed, are a part of that something." He took another sip of coffee, gathering his thoughts. "All we can hope for now is that those four, and any others who reveal themselves, will fight for good." He looked back at his screen, where the aforementioned Stonebur boy was talking with a blonde girl. "Because this conflict could very well decide the fate of Remnant."

* * *

 **Hey, would you look at that! We're finally off the ground. I've had the stories and plotlines for this thing swirling around even before Season 3. Glad I'm finally putting it down on metaphorical paper. For now I'm gonna keep things short and sweet, trying to stay in line with the related episodes until we get to new territory.**

 **I can't believe I forgot to mention this back in Emily or Kana's chapters, but the Keyblade mechanics and abilities are inspired by Shire Folk's** ** _Annals of Darkness_** **series. Go check him out if you're a Kingdom Hearts fan; it's probably one of the best KH fics on the site. I won't be using his interpretations of canon characters (And yeah, they will be joining us down the road), but his Keyblade system is fantastic.**

 **As always, comments, reviews, and constructive criticism are appreciated. Next Time: Chapter 2- Light and Shadow.**


	6. Chapter 2- Light and Shadow

**BREK Chapter 2- Light and Shadow**

 **Disclaimer- RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth. Kingdom Hearts is owned by Disney and Square Enix. I own nothing but my own characters.**

* * *

 **Emily Blackquill**

 **Emerald Forest**

"So, let me get this whole thing straight," I said, looking back to my new travelling companion. "This world, Remnant, is threatened by dark creatures called the Creatures of Grimm. These Grimm seem to exclusively hunt humans, and are lured by negative emotions. To fight these things, humanity utilizes a natural resource called Dust, which basically has elemental powers, and their own Aura. Those trained to use these two things are called Huntsmen and Huntresses, and it's up to them to help defend the last bastions of humanity. Have I got it right so far?"

" _Nice job, Ms Exposition,"_ my Keyblade Spirit snarked.

' _Shut up, Shade.'_

"Yeah, you've got it just about right," Roark replied. He had stumbled across me after I had woken up in a random clearing, right before we were jumped by a pack of what he had called "Ursa." We fought them off together, with me using my new control over shadows and him revealing his own control of earth. Afterwards, he had filled me in on where I had wound up. "Currently, I'm in the middle of the Initiation Trial for Beacon Academy, Vale's top combat school." He met my eyes. "Professor Ozpin said that whoever we first make eye contact with upon landing in the forest was supposed to be our partner for the next four years. Not sure if this counts, but I'm just rolling with it at this point."

I stifled a giggle. "Alright, then, hotshot. What exactly is the objective for your Initiation?"

"We're supposed to make our way to some old temple ruins here in the forest," he told me, taking the lead. "There's supposed to be a bunch of relics there. Each pair grabs one and heads back to the cliffs. Of course, it's not as easy as it sounds. This place is crawling with Grimm." He stopped, glancing around. "Honestly, I'm shocked we haven't seen more of them."

Upon realizing what he just said, I facepalmed. I felt, rather than heard, Shade mimic me a few seconds later. "Why did you have to go and say that?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" He was obviously confused.

Before I could reply, I heard a low hissing coming from our left. "You just had to tempt fate, didn't you…"

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Emerald Forest**

As I followed the two Huntresses-in-training, I contemplated what I had learned about this world. ' _Creatures of darkness drawn to negative emotions… They're like Heartless, in a sense. Is that why I have Keyblades?'_

My thoughts were interrupted by Xiao Long. "Hey!" She called back. "Come check this out!" Once Belladonna and I had reached her position, she gestured to a clearing with what looked to indeed be temple ruins. "You think this is it?" At both of our deadpans, she shrugged sheepishly.

Upon approaching the ruins, I noticed the small pillars in the center, and the objects atop them. I bent down to confirm my suspicions. ' _Are these…?'_

"Chess pieces?" Belladonna unknowingly finished my thoughts. And indeed they were- the 'relics' were merely gold and black chess pieces. I looked around, noticing empty pillars and trying to figure out which pieces had been taken.

"Looks like the Black Rook and and both Bishop pieces are gone…" I muttered aloud. I looked back over to Xiao Long, who had picked up one of the White Knights.

"How about a cute little pony?" she asked her partner.

"Sure." I was already looking away, focusing my new Aura sense to check for anyone nearby. Sure enough, another presence was headed our way.

Less than a minute later, the presence revealed herself to be a white haired teen dressed in yellow and gold. My attention was immediately drawn to the feline tail that trailed behind her. ' _A Faunus?'_ I had been informed of their existence during our journey, but this was the first time I had encountered one.

"Oh, thank Dust!" she exclaimed, running over to the temple. "I managed to make it here. I still need a partner, but…" she trailed off, realizing we were here. She then proceeded to walk straight up to me. "Uh… hello. My name is Kana. Kana Brightwing. I think we're partners now?"

"Blackquill," I replied, before turning and walking away. "And no, we're not."

"Wait, what?" she asked, moving to catch up. "Why not? Professor Ozpin said the first person we make eye contact with after landing was our partner." She sounded almost… hurt.

' _Why does she sound like I just kicked her puppy? And why the hell do I care?'_ But before I could tell her I wasn't part of their little Initiation trial, I was preempted by a loud scream.

"Blake, Blackquill, did you hear that?" Xiao Long asked. "Some girl is in trouble!"

"I heard," I replied, already trying to trace the direction of the scream. I noticed Belladonna staring at something in the sky.

"What should we do?" Xiao Long asked again, but Belladonna merely pointed upwards. We both turned to look, and the first thing we saw was a raven-haired girl with a red cape falling from the sky.

"Heads uuuuuuuup!"

And then she was slammed out of the air by another flying person, a boy with blond hair. ' _Sky?'_ I asked, ' _Please tell me. What are the odds of this shit?'_

" _I can't even begin to try and calculate that."_

The two airborne students slammed into a nearby tree. "Did your sister just fall out of the sky?" Belladonna asked, incredulous.

"I…" Xiao Long was cut off by the sounds of explosions and an Ursa emerging from the treeline. Before I could summon my Keyblades, the Grimm keeled over and revealed an orange-haired girl.

"YEEEE-HAAAAW!" she called out, tumbling off its back. She began inspecting the likely dead Ursa. "Aw… it's broken." A boy with black hair, who I assumed was the girl's partner, came out of the forest, out of breath.

"Nora," he told the girl, "don't ever do that again." But she was already behind us, looking at the relics.

"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Belladonna asked, sounding as confused as I was.

"I…" Once again, Xiao Long was stopped as a girl dressed in what looked to be Greek armor burst out from another direction, a massive scorpion on her tail. She leapt over the beast's claw and kept moving. She looked up at the two people still stuck in a tree.

"Jaune!"

"Pyrrha!" The blond boy called back. The girl in the tree, seeing the new attacker, leapt out of the tree. "Ruby!"

"Ruby!" Xiao Long shouted to her sister.

"Yang!" the girl cried, moving to hug Xiao Long.

"Nora!" The crazy orange haired girl suddenly popped up between them. ' _The fuck? How did she…?'_

"Did she just run all the way here with a Death Stalker on her tail?" Belladonna seemed on the verge of just giving up. The next interruption was not far behind. From the only main direction not used, our left, came a boy dressed in brown and a girl in black, a massive two-headed snake not far behind. The boy slammed his hand down onto the earth, creating a massive stone wall to block the Grimm off. The two turned, catching their breath, when the girl looked at me.

"Bro?" she called out. I forced myself to do a double take. Blonde hair, blue eyes… Yup, it was my sister alright.

"Emily? What the hell?" I quickly made my way over to her. "What are you doing here?"

"Same as you, Ty," she replied, looking me over. "Hm… white. Light or Air?"

"I'm sorry?"

"What power did you get?" ' _Emily has powers too?'_ "I have Darkness, and Roark here has Earth."

"Wait, powers?" Brightwing came running over. "You guys have elemental powers too?" She held out her hand, projecting a small sphere of light.

"So it would seem," I spoke up. "I have Air."

"Cool," the Earth user interjected. He held out his hand. "I'm Roark Stonebur. You're Emily's brother?" At my nod, he continued. "Nice to meet you. I ran across your sister in the forest and we decided to pair up."

"I go by Blackquill." I begrudgingly shook his hand. ' _He did look out for my sister, after all. I owe him some small gratitude.'_

"I'm Kana," the faunus girl introduced herself again. "Nice to meet you, Roark and Emily." She paused, craning her head. "Uh… anyone else hear screaming?"

We turned in time to see a girl in white falling from a rather large flying Grimm. The boy in the tree leapt out to catch her, but they both wound up sprawled on the ground.

"Great, the gang's all here! Now we can all die together," Xiao Long snarked.

"Not if I can help it!" The girl's sister rushed forward, unfurling a massive mechanical scythe from her back. ' _How the fuck does she wield that?'_

"Ruby!" Xiao Long shouted, worried. "Wait!" But Ruby was already attacking the Death Stalker.

"She's going to get hurt!" Stonebur cried, holding out his hand. He formed a hammer of pure stone and was ready to rush in after her when the snake burst through the stone wall he had formed earlier. "Oh come on!"

"I've got this!" Brightwing summoned her own weapons, a pair of twin pistols. "Close your eyes!" We did so, and I heard her shout, "Shining Flare!" before everything went white, even behind my eyelids. Upon opening, the snake was writhing on the ground, both heads blinded. I looked to see what was happening with Ruby, only to find the girl in white had managed to freeze the Death Stalker to the ground with her weapon, a rapier with Dust cartridges in its hilt. It looked like she was chewing the girl out for her recklessness.

"Good job, Kana!" Emily congratulated, walking over to the Faunus girl. "Are those your Elemental Weapons?"

"Yeah," she replied, holding up the guns. "What do you have?" At her question,Emily held her hand out and summoned a scythe. "Cool…"

' _Sky?'_ I asked my Spirit.

" _You've got a bow. Just think about summoning it."_

' _Noted.'_ I looked over to the rest of the students, who had regrouped by the relics. "Come on," I called to the others around me, "Looks like someone has a plan."

"That thing is circling back, What are we gonna do?" I heard Jaune say as we approached.

The girl in white gestured to the relics. "Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us."

Ruby nodded. "Weiss is right. Our mission is to grab a relic and make it back to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."

"Run and live," Jaune said, relieved. "That's an idea I can get behind."

"Agreed," I interjected, causing the others to look at me. "It would be suicide to pursue three giant Grimm at once." I looked at Stonebur. "Can you cover our retreat with another rock wall?"

"Yup," he confirmed, walking up to grab a Black Knight piece. "Let me know when."

"Alright!" Brightwing shouted, rushing to grab the other Black Knight piece. "Let's get a move on!"

Ruby and Jaune followed their lead, taking the other White Knight and White Rook, respectively.

"Time we left!" Nora's partner, Ren if I had heard the girl correctly earlier, called. Indeed, the Death Stalker was struggling against its bonds.

"Right," Ruby acknowledged. "Let's go!"

* * *

Our path led us into a group of cliffside ruins, the bird (A Nevermore, as Stonebur had informed me) right on our tails. It overtook us and circled the ruins, forcing us all to take cover.

"Damn," I muttered. A crashing sound heralded the Death Stalker's appearance. "Oh fuck me."

"Ah, crap, run!" Jaune called. As the others moved forward, I noticed the final Grimm inbound, the King Taijitu closing in fast.

"Stonebur!" I called. "Let the Death Stalker pass us and then throw down a wall after it! We'll dispatch the Taijitu!"

"Are you crazy?" He shouted back. "We'd be blocking the others in with the other two! They'd be screwed!"

"They'll be even more screwed if the Taijitu gets into the mix, dammit! Do it!" He contemplated for a second before nodding begrudgingly. We ducked out of sight while the Death Stalker passed us by. As it did, Stonebur rolled out and summoned his hammer, slamming it down to create a wall of earth at least 15 feet high and cutting us off from the other eight students.

I turned and located the Taijitu, seeing it approaching our position quickly. Looking at my allies, I took stock of what powers I knew they had. "Emily, DPS," I told my sister. "Get in, hit it hard, get out. Stonebur, you're Offensive Tank. Keep the hits off Emily and Brightwing and hold its attention. Brightwing, you're Support. Keep your distance when you can and light the thing up. If you see a chance, drop another Shining Flare."

"What will you do?" she asked.

"I'll handle cover fire and keep the white head busy. We sever one head, the other becomes a lot easier to deal with." I channeled my new powers to my feet and leapt up to the top of the wall. I focused and summoned my new bow, a simple white weapon with an elegant silver trim. ' _Sky? Arrows and a bowstring?'_

" _You remember the Fujin Yumi?"_ she asked back. " _Basically that. The arrows will go where you want them to. No need to focus on aiming, just draw back and shoot."_

' _Noted.'_ As I held the bow with my right hand, I made a drawing-back motion with my left. As I did, a bowstring formed from the air around me, an arrow already strung. "Ready?" All three nodded back. "Go!" I let the arrow fly right into the white head of the Taijitu as Emily rushed forward, scythe in hand.

"Shadow Spiral!" She called, the scythe blade shrouding itself in darkness before cutting into the hard scales. She spun several times, each rotation slashing a shallow gash into the snake. The head reared back to strike in anger. "Roark, switch!" She leapt back and Stonebur ran in, delivering an upward swing into the head and knocking it back.

"Let me!" Brightwing jumped in, her pistols shifting into a pair of shortswords. "Solar Cutter!" She let loose with a blistering combination of slashes on the black head. The black head reeled back in pain, and the white head moved in to strike.

"Vortex Pierce," I muttered as I fired several arrows. They slammed into the white half of the Taijitu and exploded with bursts of wind.

"Thanks, Blackquill!" Brightwing called back.

"Keep your focus, Brightwing! On your left!" She turned and leapt over the body of the Taijitu as it tried to slam the girl.

"Nice try. Quake Slam!" Stonebur launched himself up with a pillar of stone before slamming into the body with his took the opening and kept slashing. As I took in the battle, a plan formed in my head.

"Stonebur! We're gonna nail this fucker down! Get ready!" I watched for an opportunity, keeping the white head occupied with arrows. At last, the black head reared back while the white head pulled away. "NOW!"

I turned my bow skyward and formed the largest arrow I could. I launched it into the air, where it hung for several seconds, point down. Stonebur understood the idea immediately and launched himself upward once more. At his peak, he slammed his hammer into the arrow, driving it straight through the black head of the Taijitu and pinning it to the ground. "Brightwing, Emily, end it!"

"Right," my sister called, holding her scythe behind her. "Eclipse Reaper!"

"You got it!" Brightwing shifted her weapons back to their pistol forms before merging them into one. The new combined weapon morphed into a sword hilt. "Nova Slash!" From the hilt, a massive blade of light formed, blazing with energy.

The two girls rushed straight for the pinned Taijitu before unleashing their attacks. Emily cut straight through the neck with the full force of Shadow, while Brightwing did the same with Light. The white head shrieked in pain.

I leapt off the wall, summoning Sky's Guardian to my hand. "Let's put it down," I declared as I landed, racing to where Stonebur was standing. Seeing my plan, he held out his hand and brought forth a Keyblade of his own.

"Kana, Emily!" he called. The girls met up with us and summoned Keyblades to their hands. "You thinking what I'm thinking, Blackquill?"

"If you were thinking a full on assault with our Keyblades, then yes." I raised my voice so everyone could hear clearly. "Push as much power as you can into your Keyblades! We'll end this in a single hit!" I summoned all the Air power I could and channelled it into my blade, surrounding it with an aura of gale force winds. I looked to my side to see Stonebur's wreathed in swirling rocks, Brightwing's enshrouded in almost blinding light, and Emily's wrapped in shadow.

For a single moment, I could feel our weapons linking our minds as we shouted as one, "Elemental Rush!" And then we were moving in a line, Brightwing striking first, followed by Emily, then Stonebur. Each slashed through the Taijitu with an explosion of their element trailing behind. My blade struck last with the force of a raging hurricane, and as I skidded to a stop, the head erupted in one final explosion of energy.

"Woah," I heard Emily breathe. Turning back, I saw only the body of the Taijitu as it slowly faded away. "We really did a number on that thing." She turned to me. "Do the others need help?" I leapt up the wall to check to find the Death Stalker fading and Ruby standing atop a cliff as the Nevermore's decapitated body falling into the abyss below.

"I'd say they have things under control," I deadpanned.

* * *

 **Emily Blackquill**

 **Beacon Academy- Headmaster's Office**

 **Several Hours Later**

"So, you say you're from a different world?" the silver-haired man asked from his desk. After the battle with the giant Grimm, the Headmaster of Beacon, Professor Ozpin, had taken the two of us aside to talk. We had wound up in his office, explaining everything we could.

"Yes sir," I replied, nervously. "We have no idea how we got here, and no knowledge on how to get home. We were hoping you might know something, or at least have an idea of what we could do while we search for a way home."

He took a sip from his mug. "Well, there are several parts to those questions. I will try to answer them one at a time. First, unfortunately, I have no knowledge of how you got here either, nor do I know of a way for you to return to your world." My face fell. "However, I do believe I have some idea as to WHY you are here."

This got me to look up, puzzled. My brother actually sat up straight for probably the first time in this meeting, likely as intrigued as I was. "What do you mean, Professor?"

"You have been granted strange powers, as well as given a fully-powered Aura. Along with that, you two were drawn to others who have your gift. It is highly likely in my opinion that you have been brought here for a reason." He laced his fingers together and leaned forward. "Likely to combat something the likes of which Remnant has never seen."

"Oddly specific, Professor," my brother piped up.

"I'm aware." He took another long draw from his mug. "But that is for another time. Until you do find that reason, I believe I have an offer that may interest you."

"Go on," he replied, leaning back.

"If your purpose truly is combat, then I would be remiss to allow you to fight this threat unprepared. Therefore, I offer you this- you may attend Beacon while you remain here on Remnant, alongside the new freshmen you assisted today. You will have full access to the school's facilities and resources. And, knowing that you currently have no access to Lien, we will provide you with funds to purchase necessities like clothes and the like."

"You would really do that for us, Professor?" I asked hopefully.

"I would. You proved your capabilities quite adequately in the Emerald Forest today. I see no reason why you would not be eligible for Beacon."

I turned to look at my brother. "So, bro, what do you say?"

He sighed. "Do we really have much of a choice?" He stood from his chair. "I will accept your offer, Professor."

Ozpin nodded. "Well then, we should head down to the auditorium. We have teams to announce."

* * *

"Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Yang Xiao Long. You four retrieved the White Knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by… Ruby Rose!" Professor Ozpin announced. The four girls exited the stage, leaving only me, Roark, my brother, and Kana. "And finally, Tyler Blackquill, Roark Stonebur, Emily Blackquill, and Kana Brightwing. You four retrieved the Black Knight pieces. Henceforth, you shall be Team BREK, Led by Tyler Blackquill!" My brother jerked in surprise, not expecting to be leader.

Kana walked over to her new partner. "Congrats, Tyler!" she said, holding out her hand.

"It's Blackquill," he replied, shrugging her off. I could only shake my head sadly. ' _This is going to be a rough year…'_

* * *

 **Alright, time for the obligatory character and team name explanations!**

 **Roark Stonebur- Derived from Rock and Stone, which have distinctive gray and brown colorings associated with them.**

 **Kana Brightwing- Kana is derived from the Hebrew name Kanara, which means "little songbird or canary," (Canaries are associated with yellow), as well as the Indian name Kanaka, which means Gold. Bright brings to mind the sun, or light.**

 **Tyler and Emily Blackquill, not being native to Remnant, do not follow the Color Naming Rule, though their last name does bring to mind a black feather from a bird like a crow or raven.**

 **Team BREK (Break)- Brings to mind shattering glass.**

 **And there you go! The new team is assembled and ready to start their time at Beacon. I was going to cut off at Ruby falling, as that's where The Emerald Forest Pt 2 cuts off, but it felt too short, so I went ahead and dragged Players and Pieces in here too.**

 **Next time- Chapter 3: Wings of Leadership**

 **This is GoldenCyclone4, signing off.**


	7. Chapter 3- Storms

**BREK Chapter 3: Storms**

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth. Kingdom Hearts is owned by Disney and Square Enix. I own nothing but my own characters.

* * *

 **Kana Brightwing**

 **Beacon Academy- BREK Dorm**

"Ugh… Five more minutes…" I mumbled to myself as I tried to turn off my Scroll's alarm. After about thirty seconds, I gave up on trying to reach it without getting out from under the covers and sat up, blinking sleep from my eyes as I glanced about the room I now shared with my new team. " _My new team…"_ The thought was still a bit strange to me. My eyes travelled past the beds of Emily and Roark, who also seemed to be in the process of waking up, and fell on the empty bed of our leader.

"Uh… Emily?" I looked to the blonde, "Where's your brother?"

Her gaze shifted to his vacant bed, and she sighed deeply. "He's probably out training again." She looked… resigned, almost. "Even back on Earth, Tyler would always wake up at, or sometimes before, the crack of dawn. Now that he's got these new powers, he probably got up earlier to figure them out." She rolled out of bed. "If you want to find him, try any sort of training grounds that Beacon has. That'll likely be where he is."

"You're not worried?" Roark asked.

"Like I said, he did this all the time back home. After two and a half years of it, I'm used to it." She started walking towards the closet, but stopped. "Damn, nearly forgot I don't have any clothes here…"

"Don't worry, Emily," I assured her as I moved past her. "After class this week, you and I can go into Vale and use that stipend Ozpin gave you to get some casual clothes. Until then…" I opened the closet doors as I continued, "we have uniforms to wear."

I could hear Roark curse under his breath at the sight of the uniforms. Beacon had a fairly formal uniform, with a black blazer highlighted with brown trim. The male uniform had a white dress shirt, red tie, and blue vest underneath, along with black slacks. The girls, on the other hand, had a pleated white undershirt with a red ribbon at the neck, a brown corset over it, and a red plaid skirt. The overall look wasn't too bad, but I knew it would definitely put a bit of a strain on my Semblance.

"How the hell are we supposed to fight in these?" Roark asked, irritated, as he emerged from the bathroom, being the last among us to change. "They can't possibly expect us to wear these during combat classes."

"What, have you never changed for a gym class, Roark?" Emily teased. "Besides, Shade taught me a little trick to work around it." She called out her Keyblade. "Now, if I just focus…" she trailed off as her uniform was enveloped in a glowing light. As it dissipated, I saw her uniform had been replaced with the black combat outfit she had been wearing in the forest yesterday. "Easy."

Roark facepalmed. "Oh. Right. Forgot we could do that."

"Wait, you can do that too, Roark?" I asked.

"Yeah. Hasn't your Keyblade taught you how?" I shook my head. "Seriously? That was one of the first things Quake taught me how to do when I was getting used to my magic."

' _Uh… Bright?'_

" _It… may have slipped my mind, milady. I'm sorry. To make up for lost time, you simply need to focus on your combat outfit appearing or disappearing, and channel that focus into your pool of magic. It's a very basic technique, designed so that wielders could always be ready for battle."_ Doing as she said, I closed my eyes and focused on my combat outfit. Within an instant, I felt my uniform shift into the familiar clothes that had accompanied me for the last month.

"It was seriously that easy?" I asked, mainly to myself. "I just treated it as a normal set of clothes…"

"Emily giggled at my embarrassment. "Don't feel bad, Kana. We're all learning about these powers. You and Roark just have a head start." She dismissed her combat clothes, once more standing in her uniform. "Now, let's go find my brother and get some breakfast."

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Beacon Academy- Outdoor Training Grounds**

"Soaring Tempest!" I called, striking the target with a rising series of spinning slashes. As I came out of the attack, I solidified the air beneath me, using it as a jumping point to launch backwards. I landed in a ready position, prepared to launch another attack at the training dummy.

" _I think you've done enough, Blackquill,"_ Sky piped up. " _You've been practicing for a good three hours now. It's past 7 AM, you should head back and get something to eat."_

' _I'll eat when I'm done,'_ I shot back, before switching from my bow blades to my Keyblades proper. ' _If I don't get a handle on these powers now, then I won't be ready when I truly need them.'_

" _But if you skip a meal, you won't have the strength to USE those powers in the first place."_ I could feel her shake her head through our mental link. ' _Look. I understand. I get why you're obsessed with being strong. I may not like it or agree, but I get it. But you won't be of help to anyone if you're half-starved and barely awake. Resting isn't weakness, it's a requirement. So stop being stupidly stubborn and go get something to eat, got it? If not for your sake, then for your sister's."_

The mention of Emily made me jerk to a stop. Once again, the Spirit had a point, much as I didn't like it. ' _I really hate it when you're right,'_ I said, dismissing my weapons and relaxing into a more casual pose.

" _Means I'm doing my job. Now off with you."_

I soon found myself back at the dorm I now shared with my new "teammates." As I opened the door, I found all three dressed in what looked to be a uniform. Brightwing was the first to notice me.

"Oh, hey Blackquill!" she waved cheerfully. "Glad to see you're back. We were about to head down and grab breakfast. Did you want to join us?"

I brushed past her. "Go. I'll catch up." I moved towards the closet to grab another uniform. ' _Much as I hate these things, I'm sure wearing them is required.'_

"What, just like that?" Stonebur interrupted. "Where were you?"

"Practicing." I found a uniform that looked like it would fit and grabbed it.

"You're our leader," he pressed on, "so you don't get to just go wandering off on your own like that!"

"Roark-" Emily tried to intercede.

"No, I'm getting this out now. Look, your plan might have pulled our asses out of the fire back at the cliffs, but that doesn't automatically make you a great leader. If you're just going to go off on your own every morning and train for Dust-knows how long, you have to at least let us know. We're a _team_ now, and that means acting like one." His eyes had a bit of fire behind them. I was admittedly impressed.

"You have an issue with what I do, take it up with the one who dropped this in my lap," I replied curtly. "I'm not going to change my daily routine because you think I should be spending every waking moment with my 'team.'" With that, I entered the bathroom and shut the door.

* * *

 **Roark Stonebur**

 **Beacon Academy- Hallways**

"Is your brother always this big of an ass?" I asked Emily as we walked towards the cafeteria. She had insisted we go on ahead of Blackquill.

"He's just… not much of a people person, Roark." She had a downcast look on her face. "I know my brother can be a difficult person to work with, but trust me. He is a good leader, and he'll give his all for anyone who he cares for, even a little bit. He just doesn't like getting close to people. I'm not trying to make excuses for his behavior, but he isn't going to just up and accept either of you as friends. He needs time."

"Is he… okay?" Kana asked. This question took Emily a few seconds of thought.

"Yes… and no. I'd say… he's better. Better than he used to be. But truly okay? I'm not sure if even he knows what 'okay' would be."

' _Geez. What the hell does that mean?'_

There was no real other conversations between us until we found ourselves at our destination. The cafeteria was pretty expansive, with enough benches and tables to easily seat five times the entire student body. The first day was self-serve, so we each grabbed assorted breakfast foods and sat down. I pulled out my Scroll as I bit into a muffin. "Alright, as far as I know, we have classes as teams, so one schedule covers all four of us."

"When's our first class, Roark?" Emily inquired between bites of a biscuit.

"Uh… 9 AM, looks like." I glanced at the clock on my Scroll. "We've got an hour or so, so no need to rush." We sat and made small talk until Blackquill joined us, wearing his uniform with no small degree of uncomfortableness.

"Not a fan of the dress code?" I asked, a bit of humor in my voice.

"You could say that," he replied, sitting down with his own tray of pastries and fruit.

"Well, there's something we agree on. These things aren't exactly comfortable." That got a nod from him.

' _Emily was right. Not much of a people person.'_

"So…" Kana started, likely trying to break the ice. "What _is_ our first class, Roark?"

I pulled up the schedule again. "Hm… looks like we have History first, with a Professor… Oobleck? Interesting name." I scrolled down. "After that, we have Combat Sparring with Professor Goodwitch, Weapon Care with a Professor Peach, and Grimm Studies with Professor Port."

"Wow. Wish I had those classes in high school," Emily joked. "Maybe then I wouldn't have been so bored." She tossed the last bit of a donut into her mouth. "Right. Might as well go looking for this classroom. We don't want to be late because we got lost."

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Beacon Academy- Sparring Arena**

After a two-hour period of seeing a highly-caffeinated professor rush about a room at speeds that seemed frankly inhuman, we found ourselves sitting in the bleachers of the Sparring Hall. The rest of the students had switched from their uniforms to their standard combat gear. "Now then," Professor Goodwitch began from the podium at the back of the arena, "I'm certain that this is the class most, if not all of you, have been eagerly anticipating. This is Combat class, and I will be your instructor. For those who do not already know me, I am Professor Glynda Goodwitch. This class is designed to give young Huntsmen and Huntresses in training a chance to practically apply their combat training in a controlled environment. If you would all pull out your Scrolls…" I pulled out the smartphone-like device. It had been in my pocket when I woke up in the Emerald Forest, but until now I had not spared it much of a look.

"Your Scroll is tied to you, including your body signature and Aura. As such, it is able to give a close estimate as to how much Aura you have remaining. It can also be synced with the Scrolls of your teammates, allowing you to track their Aura levels as well." The professor pointed towards the big screens mounted on the walls to either side of her. "Said information will also display on these screens during sparring matches." I pulled up the monitoring function as soon as I found it, which displayed a portrait of me (How the hell it had that was beyond me), as well as two bars, one green and one blue. The green had a small **100** displaying next to it, while the blue read **300**.

"Uh, Professor Goodwitch?" Emily asked, raising her hand. "Excuse my ignorance, but what does the blue bar mean?"

"Blue bar? What are you referring to, Ms. Blackquill?" Goodwitch was actually confused, which took me aback slightly. I looked up at the data on the board. Sure enough, there was only one bar below the generic portrait on the screen, a green one.

Emily leapt down from the balcony, showing her Scroll to Goodwitch. "I'm not sure what this means, Professor."

Goodwitch seemed to think this over for a minute. "Hmm… Mr. Blackquill, do you have this blue bar also?" At my nod, she continued. "Ms. Brightwing, Mr. Stonebur, what about you two?"

Stonebur nodded, then stood. "I have a theory about what it might be, Professor. This bar appeared on my Scroll about a month ago, when I recieved my Keyblade and its powers. What about you, Kana?"

"Now that I think back… yeah, that's when it showed up for me." The girl pondered this, flicking her tail absently.

"I think it has something to do with the Keyblade. It's likely a sort of mana meter for us, to measure how much power we have left. It starts at 500 and decreases when we use Keyblade abilities."

' _Sky?'_ I asked my Spirit.

" _Yup, he's right. Mana meter. And before you ask, you're at 300 because you were training earlier. It recharges slowly unless you're sleeping or meditating."_ I cursed under my breath. So I was at a disadvantage if I was chosen today…

"Well, now that that has been sorted out, please return to your seat, Ms. Blackquill." As Emily leapt back into the raised seating, Goodwitch regained her composure. "So, as I was saying, all matches in Sparring will be fought until the Red Zone of your Aura, which is 15% remaining or less. At this point, one strong blow would break your Aura, leaving you helpless. Remember, being hit by a foe is not the only way to lose Aura. Using your Semblance will drain your Aura as well, so be cautious and keep an eye on your Scroll." She cleared her throat. "With that being said, the matches will be randomized, except for select cases when I call for volunteers. Shall we see who our first match will be between?" At the cheers of the students, Goodwitch started the randomizer.

Several matches went by, and I observed my classmates carefully. I made sure to take note of their weapons, fighting styles, and Semblances if they displayed them. If I was going to end up fighting them, I wanted to be as prepared as possible. Until...

"The match will be… Yang Xiao-Long versus… Tyler Blackquill!" I sat up.

"Seems you're up, bro." Emily gave me a pat on the back. "Good luck!"

"We'll be rooting for you!" Brightwing chimed in. I paid them no heed, leaping straight to the battlefield and summoning my combat outfit.

' _Xiao-Long…'_ I thought to myself. ' _From what little I saw of her, she uses a pair of shotgun gauntlets. She said her Semblance was absorbing hits to strengthen her. Fast, up close fighting style focused mainly on punches, but she has long range shells. It'd be best to keep her at a fair distance and use my bow to wear her down slowly.'_

" _And don't mess with her hair,"_ Sky cut in. I nodded, flashing back to our time in the forest. During our trek to the ruins, a Beowulf had gotten a strand of her hair, and Xiao-Long had gone ballistic.

Xiao-Long leapt over the railing of the seats, landing on her feet. "So, guess it's you and me, Blackquill! I'll make sure I go easy on ya!" She cracked her knuckles and activated her gauntlets.

"This may be a sparring match, but expect no mercy," I shot back, calling my bow to my hands. I was already surveying the field, looking for a perch. I glanced up and saw the rafters. ' _Perfect.'_

"Let the match… begin!" Goodwitch called. I was already leaping back over Xiao-Long's opening salvo, soaring into the rafters of the building. I quickly touched down and drew my bow back, three arrows forming in my hand. I fired them at once, guiding them towards Xiao-Long, but she quickly sidestepped the shots and began running towards me. Tapping into my magic, I formed a small wall of rushing wind to impede her as I leapt again, aiming for the opposite rafters. A quick look out of the corner of my eye revealed my MP to be at 275.

' _Damn. I need to be conservative with spells.'_ Three more arrows flew from my bow, with one striking true and hitting Xiao-Long in the back. She turned and fired her gauntlets into the ground, propelling herself towards me. ' _Shit.'_ I used my Aerokinesis to suddenly drop like a stone, Xiao-Long sailing over me. I landed into a roll, popping up on one knee and loosing another salvo. Xiao-Long once again used her gauntlets to dodge, firing to redirect momentum. She landed and blasted towards me, forcing me to split my bow and counter her with crossed blades.

"You got a lucky shot," she teased, "but now you're playing my game." She lashed out with her knee, sending me back a few steps and opening me up for a shotgun-assisted punch which sent me sprawling.

' _Dammit. She's fast.'_

' _She has to be with that fighting style."_

' _Not. Helping.'_ I got to my feet. A quick look at the board showed my Aura to be at 90, while my foe's was at 97. ' _That arrow did only three percent? Time to get offensive.'_ I switched to my Keyblades. Holding Sky's Guardian up, I sent my power into the tip. "Sky Cutter!"

Sky Cutter summoned a swarm of razor sharp blades made of compressed air, which then flew towards Xiao-Long. Unable to dodge all of them, she braced herself and took the hits, dropping her Aura to 89. At the end of the spell, she ejected her current shells and pulled out two new clips. I took my chance and blasted forward, channeling Wind into my Keyblades. "Storm Slash!" My blades danced in a vicious combo that knocked Xiao-Long back and dropped her Aura further.

" _I hope you know what you're doing, Blackquill. This is kinda the exact opposite of how you want to fight Yang."_

' _If I never let her hit me, then she doesn't get to use her Semblance.'_

" _..That is the dumbest logic ever."_

' _It's working, isn't it?'_

Indeed, I had pushed Xiao-Long down to 75. She quickly steadied herself and prepared an attack, but I was already attacking again. "Vortex Spiral!" I rushed forward and felt my feet leave the ground, spinning like a drill in midair before I slammed into Xiao-Long. The force of the blow sent her flying backwards, but she recovered midair and used her gauntlets to right herself. I allowed myself a small smirk. ' _She isn't so tough after all.'_

Deciding to end this fast, I launched back up into the rafters and prepared a salvo of arrows, this time channeling a large chunk of Air into them. ' _Let's try this.'_ I fired off six arrows, each of them flying in front of or behind Xiao-Long.

"Hah! You're getting sloppy, Blackquill!" she called out. "I didn't even have to dodge!"

"Who said I was aiming for you?" I replied, leaping down. As I hit the ground, I slammed my palm into the floor and sent a pulse of Air to the arrows stuck in the ground. Xiao-Long must have realized what I had meant, as she tried to flee, but it was too late. "Sky Trap!"

All at once, the the area within the circle of arrows exploded into a powerful vortex, trapping Xiao-Long inside and doing continual damage. As it subsided, she was tossed towards me, which I used as a chance to follow up. "Soaring Tempest!" The spinning slash launched my opponent away. A look at the board showed Xiao-Long to be at 25% of her Aura. ' _Time to end this.'_

" _Watch out!"_ Before I could so much as process Sky's warning, a shell slammed into me and knocked my breath away. As the duct cleared around Xiao-Long, it revealed her standing tall and hair aglow. " _She's activated her Semblance!"_ I tried to stand and prepare to counter, but I didn't get a chance. Xiao-Long rushed me, slamming into me with punch after punch. I had no opportunity to counter or dodge. One final uppercut sent me sprawling, and I heard a buzzer tone as I hit the ground.

"The winner is Yang Xiao-Long!" Professor Goodwitch announced. My whole body hurt, but I was able to look over at the board. Xiao-Long still had 25 Aura, and I had… 5. ' _How? How did I…?'_

"Hey." Xiao-Long had walked over to me, and was now offering her hand. "Good fight. You had me on the ropes there!"

I pushed her hand away and struggled to my feet. "Don't patronize me." I started walking back towards the seats.

' _I lost. Two and a half years, and I'm still not strong enough. If I can't even win a fight when I have the advantage, then how am I supposed to protect her?'_ It was late. Most everyone at the school was asleep. I was not asleep, and was instead training, honing my swordplay.

" _You lost because you got sloppy,"_ Sky cut in. " _You got overconfident and lost your head. It has nothing to do with strength."_

' _For once, you're wrong, Sky. Yes, I got sloppy. But that's because I wasn't strong enough to remain disciplined. Letting my emotions rule me was weakness.'_

" _You're going to warp whatever I say to fit your little pity party, aren't you?"_

' _Shut up.'_ With that, I stopped paying attention to the Spirit and continued training.

* * *

 **Kana Brightwing**

 **Beacon Academy- BREK Dorm**

" _ **Now, dear, let's see exactly how well those new implements are functioning… I promise this won't hurt. Much."**_

I awoke out of breath and dripping in sweat, barely swallowing back a scream. ' _Where am… Right, I'm in my dorm at Beacon. It was just a nightmare…'_ I crawled out from under my blanket and sat up. ' _And here I was thinking I was getting better…'_

" _Are you okay, milady?"_ Bright asked.

' _I'm fine, Bright. Just another nightmare.'_ I got up and headed toward the bathroom, hoping to clear my head with some cold water. As I did, however, I noticed Blackquill's bed, empty once again. ' _Is he out training? This late at night?'_ Deciding the cold water could wait, I set out in search of our leader.

I found my way to the outdoor training yard. Sure enough, as I approached, I heard the telltale sounds of a sword striking a practice dummy. I quietly peered around a corner and saw Blackquill swinging his swords at a dummy that looked very roughed up. Judging by the wear and tear on it, he had been out here awhile. Blackquill himself was breathing very heavily, and his stance was starting to waver. ' _Just how long has he been out here?'_

He launched into another string of attacks, but the swings were weak and halfhearted. As he finished, he collapsed to one knee, supporting himself with one of his swords. I covered my mouth to muffle my gasp. ' _He's gonna pass out if he keeps this up!'_ Before I could step in, he struggled to his feet, bringing his blades back into as much of a ready position as he could muster. With a strangled yell, he once again began to swing at the practice dummy. Halfway through a downward slash, he collapsed to his knees again. This time, when he tried to struggle to his feet, his strength gave out completely, and he fell to the dirt.

"No… No, you can't be…" I rushed over, searching for signs that he was okay. To my relief, I saw his chest rise and fall, albeit weakly. I let out a sigh of relief. "What the hell were you thinking?" I asked, though I knew I wouldn't get an answer. ' _He's out cold… I'd better get him back to the dorm.'_ I picked him up as gently as I could and slung him on my back in a fireman's carry. ' _We're having a talk tomorrow, Blackquill… I need to know why you'd push yourself so hard.'_

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Beacon Academy- BREK Dorm**

"Ugh…" I groaned as consciousness returned to me. As my eyes opened, I realized that I was awake far later than I normally was, judging by the light streaming through the nearby window. ' _Wait. How did I get back to the dorm?'_

"Morning, sleepyhead," Emily called out, though I could tell she wasn't happy. Her voice was too sickly sweet. "You sleep well? I sure slept well. Though maybe that's because I wasn't out training until two in the goddamn morning!"

' _There's the anger.'_ "I slept fine, Emily," I replied, avoiding her concern. "What I do on my own time is my own choice. There's no need to worry about me."

"Bullshit," she shot back. "You're lucky Kana woke up last night and found you. If she hadn't, you'd still be passed out on the training field. I was fine with you waking up at ungodly hours to train, even if I didn't agree with it. But now you're putting your health in jeopardy, and I'm not going to stand for that, bro. Not for me, certainly not for her, not for anyone, you hear me?"

By this point she had crossed the room to my bed, fists balled. I braced, expecting a slap or even a punch, but to my shock, she dropped down and pulled me into a tight hug. "Don't do this to me, Ty," she whispered, all the anger gone from her voice. "Don't keep doing this to yourself. Please."

My own face softened, and I returned the hug. "I'm sorry, Emily," I told her, genuine this time. "I don't mean to upset you."

"Yeah, well, you do…" she replied, pulling back to look me in the eyes. "Seeing you push yourself so hard hurts."

"I know. But you know why I do it." I returned her gaze, eyes steeled.

"Yeah. I do." She looked away before getting up. "Get dressed. Kana and Roark are already heading to the cafeteria. I'll meet you there." She headed to the door. Before she left, she looked over her shoulder one last time. "Tyler… I've said it before and I'll say it again, though I'm sure you're going to brush it off like you always do. She wouldn't want this. She wouldn't want to see you beating yourself up like this, or pushing yourself so hard. And she wouldn't blame you for what happened." with that, she closed the door, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

* * *

 **Whoo boy. Ever so sorry about this, dear readers. Things have been a bit problematic as of late. My editor was busy moving, and I had finals bearing down, and then I had to travel back East for my grandparents' 50th anniversary... BUT! I do know how to make it up to you. Not only is this chapter going up, but Chapters 4 and 5 as well! Oh, and I also went back and added a detail into Chapter 1 I brainfarted on. My bad.**

 **Lemme know if I'm writing combat decently or not. I feel like I definitely have room to improve. Speaking of which, as always, comments, constructive criticism, and reviews are always welcome! Next time: Chapter 4- Ignite the Spark.**

 **This is GoldenCyclone4, signing off.**


	8. Chapter 4- Ignite the Spark

**BREK Chapter 4**

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth. Kingdom Hearts is owned by Disney and Square Enix. I own nothing but my own characters.

* * *

 **Emily Blackquill**

 **Beacon Academy- Cafeteria**

It had been about a month since my brother and I had started attending Beacon, and we had fallen into a decent routine. Tyler would wake up at dawn to train, we would get up around 7 AM and prepare for the day, Tyler would find his way back at around 7:30, we'd go eat breakfast, we'd have classes, we'd do homework, and we'd go to bed. We thankfully had weekends to ourselves, though Tyler of course spent much of that either studying or training. Kana had already had to drag him back to the dorm before he passed out at least three times that I knew of.

Still, nothing too terrible had happened, and both of us had learned a lot about the world we now inhabited. Today was a Wednesday, so we again found ourselves sitting in the cafeteria, eating a breakfast of bacon, eggs, and pancakes. Judging by the enthusiasm I could hear coming from where Team JNPR was waiting in line, Nora was certainly a fan.

"Hey guys!" Ruby called, the rest of her team following behind with their own trays of food. "Mind if we join you?" Tyler's noncommittal grunt was apparently all the approval the girl needed, and she plopped down next to Kana. Weiss sat next to her, and Yang and Blake took the other side of the table. We were soon joined by Team JNPR as well. Over the last month, Kana, Roark, and I had become friends with the eight other students. We shared our class schedules, so we were often helping each other out with notes and homework.

"So, there we were, in the middle of the night…" Nora was rambling about a recurring dream she had been having, with Ren chiming in to correct the details. I had learned by now to tune Nora's crazier ramblings out. The girl was a great friend and fun to be around, but she was a bit out there at times…

"Jaune? Are you okay?" Pyrrha's voice brought my attention to the blond leader of JNPR. Sure enough, he looked pretty ragged.

"Huh?" he asked, seemingly snapping out of a fog. "Oh, yeah! Why?"

"It's just that you seem a little… not fine," Ruby replied.

"I have to agree, Jaune," I told him. "You seem really out of it today."

"Guys, I'm fine. Seriously! Look!" He held up a shaky thumbs-up and laughed nervously. I don't think any of us were convinced. Jaune's attention seemed to focus behind me, so I turned to look. What I saw disgusted me. Team CRDL was standing around a Faunus girl with bunny ears, mocking her.

"Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school!" Phyrra pointed out.

"Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah… he just likes to mess around! You know, practical jokes!"

"He's a _bully._ " I turned, somewhat shocked Tyler had decided to enter the conversation. "And why the hell you're making excuses for him is beyond me."

"Oh, please. Name one time he's 'bullied' me."

Pyrrha was quick to respond. "He constantly knocks your books and supplies out of your hands."

"He messed with your shield to make you get stuck in the door," Ruby added.

"He shoved you into a rocket locker and sent you off to who-knows where…" I chimed in.

"I didn't land far from the school!" he replied, trying to laugh it off.

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask," Pyrrha told him, worry in her eyes.

"Oooh!" Nora piped up, standing with a not-entirely-sane grin on her face. "We'll break his legs!" I heard Tyler facepalm at that.

"Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, it's not like he's just a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone." Jaune motioned to where Team CRDL continued to mess with the rabbit Faunus.

"Ow, that hurts!" The poor girl cried. "Please, stop…"

"See? I told you it was real," Cardin said.

"What a freak!" One of his teammates laughed. They finally let the girl's ears go, and she ran off, ashamed.

"Atrocious," Pyrrha growled, steel in her voice. "I can't stand people like him."

"He's _not_ the only one…" Blake replied as she stared daggers at the team of bullies.

"It must be hard to be a Faunus…" Yang said wistfully. I glanced over at Kana. Her eyes were unreadable to me, though there was definitely anger and sadness. It was then I noticed an absence from the table.

"Uh… where did my brother go?" I asked, though I already had a good guess. That guess was confirmed when Ren pointed towards where team CRDL had last been.

* * *

 **Kana Brightwing**

 **Beacon Academy- Cafeteria**

I saw Blackquill get up as the Rabbit Faunus left. At first, I didn't know what he was doing, but as I saw the direction he headed in, I knew he was about to do something rash. ' _Oh boy. This won't go well…'_

"Winchester!" he called out, walking directly up to Cardin. "What the hell are you doing?"

"What's it to you, Wind Boy?" he replied, haughty as usual.

"What it is to me is you being an asshole for no particular reason, as well as disrespecting an upperclassman." Wait, the rabbit girl was an upperclassman? How did he know that?

"And why is that any of your business?"

"Because I don't take kindly to jackasses like you who seem to think that other people exist only to mock." Woah, there was a lot of fire behind Blackquill's tone. This was probably the most riled-up I'd seen him. "What problem do you have with Faunus? What gives you the right to think you're better than them?"

The smirk on Cardin's face made me want to vomit. "Because they're freaks, duh." He glanced over Blackquill's shoulder at our table. "You would know, having to live with one of the things. Tell me, what's it like, living with a freakshow? Do you have to change her litter box-" He didn't get to finish the sentence, as Blackquill grabbed him by his undershirt collar and pulled Cardin's face right up against his.

"Listen here, you little shit," Blackquill's voice had dropped to such a low volume, I wouldn't have heard it without my enhanced senses. "You do not, under any circumstances, insult my team. Insult me all you want, be an asshole all you want, but the moment you bring my team into this, then you and I have a problem. And you don't want to know how I handle my problems."

"You talk tough, kid," Cardin replied, trying to call his bluff. "But be real. You won't actually do anything."

"Shut up." Blackquill's tone never deviated from the quiet voice he had been using, but I could tell exactly how much anger was behind it. "I know your type, because I've dealt with your type. Judging by the fancy ceremonial looking armor, you're a rich little daddy or mommy's boy. You probably had everything handed to you on a silver platter, which made you gain this little superiority complex of yours. But unlike Schnee over there, it seems like someone forgot to teach you a lesson in how to not be a complete asshole in front of everyone." He summoned one of his bow blades and held it to Cardin's throat. "So listen up, because I'm only saying this once. Leave my team alone, especially Brightwing, or the next time the two of us spar, I won't be stopping at the red, and I _will_ make you bleed. Understand me?" With that, he shoved Cardin back into the rest of his goons, sending them all sprawling. "Now leave."

"I'm going to report you to Goodwitch!" Cardin shouted, trying to regain control of the encounter.

"Do it," Blackquill replied dismissively, already walking back to the table. "I can tell her how you were physically assaulting a Faunus student, with eleven witnesses to back me up. Wonder how well that will go over?"

He sat down to looks of shock from the rest of the table. "So… what was that?" Yang finally asked.

"I've dealt with Winchester's type before," Blackquill replied before taking a bite of his pancake. "And said type happens to piss me off. So I made some things clear to him."

"What did you say to him?" Weiss questioned. "He seemed actually a little scared."

"Just that if he brings my team into the conversation again that we would have a problem."

"Was pulling your sword really necessary though?" Pyrrha cut in. "You made a bit of a scene."

"Like I give a damn." And with that, he went back to eating, ignoring further questions.

' _Bright? I wasn't hallucinating, right? He said, "Leave my team alone, especially Brightwing," right?'_

" _He did, milady. Though that may have been because Cardin brought you into the argument since you are a Faunus."_ Bright had a point. I was probably just reading too much into it. Still, I looked at my leader in a new light for the rest of breakfast.

' _Maybe there_ is _more to him than meets the eye…'_

* * *

 **Roark Stonebur**

 **Beacon Academy- History Class**

Despite my attempts to focus on Dr. Oobleck's lecture, my mind kept running back to what had happened in the cafeteria just hours before. Blackquill's summary of events had made me think, but not as much as when Kana had filled those of us without superior senses in on what he had told Cardin, to the best of her memory. ' _He pulled his weapon… what, because Kana was brought into it? Why? Since when did he give a damn?'_ It left me confused.

I was brought out of my reverie as Oobleck raced past me once again. The green-haired man's speed was ridiculous, and none of us were sure if it was because of his coffee or something else. Regardless, I tried my best to focus on the lesson at hand. "...This is prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Faunus War!" And suddenly he was back at the front of the class, behind his desk. He pointed to a mid-sized landmass at the Southwest corner of the map displayed on the board behind him. "Humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie." He raced over to the side for a sip of his coffee before reappearing at the desk, still speaking at a mile a minute. "Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!" And then he was off, zooming around the class like Ruby after too many cookies (That was not a good day for anyone). Oobleck then asked the big question. "Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?"

I glanced around the room, seeing several students raise their hands. Watching Kana raise hers sent a stab of pity through me. My own teammate had likely been bullied all her life for something she couldn't control. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the rabbit girl from this morning also timidly raising her hand. ' _Why is she so afraid to admit it? And wait, didn't Blackquill say she was a third-year? Why is she-?'_

My thoughts were cut off by Dr. Oobleck again. "Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is _precisely_ this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" He sipped his coffee again. I had to wonder what he was like without that coffee. "I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to White Fang!"

' _Don't I know it,'_ I thought to myself.

"Now, which one of you young scallions can tell me what many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the War?" Weiss raised her hand. "Yes?"

"The Battle of Fort Castle," she answered.

"Precisely! And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"

I glanced about the room, only to see Cardin flicking a paper football into Jaune's head. "Hey!" the boy said, jolting awake.

Oobleck practically teleported in front of him. "Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?"

Jaune sputtered for a second before trying to answer. "Uhhhh... The answer... The advantage... of the Faunus..." I traced his eyes to Pyrrha, who tried to signal the answer to him. "...had over that guy's stuff..." Pyrrha cupped her hands over her eyes. "Uhh… Binoculars!"

' _Pyrrha, you suck at charades.'_ While the rest of the class laughed, Oobleck sipped his coffee back at his desk. ' _Wait, when did he…?'_

"Very funny, Mr. Arc! Cardin! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject!" The boy sat up from his laughing.

"Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an _animal_ than a soldier," he sneered.

To my surprise, Blackquill chimed in. "Were you born this big of a prick, Winchester, or did you have to practice it?"

"You got a problem, Magic Boy?" He snarled.

"No, I have the answer, because I've been studying. Many Faunus, especially those with mammalian traits, have enhanced vision and sight, including near-perfect night vision."

Blake chimed in at this point. "General Lagune was inexperienced, and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched, and the general was captured."

Blackquill nodded. "Underestimating any foe is foolish as a commander, and not knowing the capabilities of your enemies is an even more egregious mistake. Perhaps if you pay attention and come down from your high horse every so often, Winchester, you might take those lessons to heart."

Cardin wasn't pleased with this response, and moved to stand up. "Sit down, Mr. Winchester," Oobleck told him. At Jaune's laughter from Cardin's misfortune, he added, "You, Mr. Blackquill, and Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings." With that, he sipped his coffee and moved on.

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Beacon Academy- History Class**

Class had ended, and I found myself standing next to Winchester and Arc as Oobleck lectured us. "You two have been struggling in my class since day one!" Oobleck said to Winchester and Arc. "Now, I don't know if it's a lack of interest, or just your stubborn nature, but whatever it is..." He took a long draw from his seemingly bottomless mug of coffee. "It stops now! You've worked hard to gain entrance to this school, and we only accept the best of the best, so I expect you to act like it." He turned his gaze to me. "And you, Mr. Blackquill. I'm not sure what your life was like back on your world, though I'm certain there is a reason behind your anger towards Cardin. But you are a student here at Beacon now, and we cannot afford future Huntsmen to be at each other's' throats. It is that sort of conflict that brings about wars and hatred." The next words were addressed to all of us. "History is important, gentlemen! If you can't learn from it... you're destined to repeat it. Pages fifty-one to ninety-one! I want an essay on my desk by next week! Now! Run along." And with that, he rushed out the door.

I walked out the door to see Brightwing waiting for me. "Oh, uh, hey Blackquill," she stumbled over her words for a minute. "I decided I'd wait to make sure you weren't in any big trouble. Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine, Brightwing." I turned to head towards the roof. "Let my sister and Stonebur know I'll be up on the roof if they want me."

I sat cross-legged atop the building containing the roof access stairs. I had decided to come up here to clear my head and meditate to strengthen my mind. Just before I slipped into meditation, I heard the stair door open. I opened my eyes to see Arc and Nikos.

"Pyrrha, I know I'm going through a hard time right now, but I'm not that depressed," Arc said. That got my attention. What the hell did that- Oh.

' _Oh. Damn. Might have sent the wrong message, Nikos.'_

Nikos apparently figured out what he meant by that, as she quickly pulled him away from the edge."N-no! That's not why I brought you up here!" She regained her composure. "Jaune, I know you're having a difficult time in class and that you're still not the strongest of fighters, so... I want to help you!"

"W-what?" Arc asked, confused.

"We can train up here after class where no one can bother us!" Nikos continued, looking fairly excited.

"You think I need help?" Arc looked hurt by the implications.

"N-no! No, that's not what I meant."

"But you just said it," Arc pressed. It seemed that this wasn't going the way Nikos was hoping it would.

"Jaune, everybody needs a little push from time to time. It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us. You made it to Beacon! That speaks volumes of what you're capable of!" Nikos tried again.

Arc turned away, head down and voice quiet. "You're wrong. I-I don't belong here."

"That's a terrible thing to say!" Nikos told him. "Of course you do!"

Arc turned back, angry now. "No, I don't!" At Nikos's bewildered look, he continued. "I wasn't really accepted into Beacon…" He turned away again, refusing to meet her eyes.

' _Wait, what?'_ That had my full attention now. ' _Arc faked his way into Beacon? Hmm… Suddenly several things make sense…'_

Nikos was just as confused. "Wh-what do you mean?"

He whipped around. "I mean I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass any tests. I didn't earn my spot at this Academy!" He met her eyes. "I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts, and I lied!"

"What? But why?" Nikos asked.

"'Cause this is always what I've wanted to be!" His voice rose again. "My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one, too. I was just never good enough."

Nikos reached out to him. "Then let me help you!"

Arc batted her hand away, anger in his voice. "I don't **want** help! I don't **want** to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero!"

"Jaune, I-" Nikos tried to cut in, but Arc continued.

"I'm tired of being the lovable idiot, stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives! Don't you understand? If I can't do this on my own... then what good am I?" Arc's words struck me. I knew all too well what he meant and how he felt…

Nikos tried to reach out again, but Arc leaned away. "Just… leave me alone. Okay?"

The girl bowed her head, and I noticed tears start to fall down her face. "If that's what you think is best..." She walked to the stairwell door and left, leaving Arc alone. The silence lasted for about a minute before an all-too-familiar and infuriating laugh echoed out.

"Oh Jaune…" Winchester said, pulling himself to the roof from a window.

' _Shit. Winchester heard that, didn't he?'_

"Cardin!" Arc was caught off guard, turning to face the bully.

"I couldn't help but overhear you two from my dorm room. So, you snuck into Beacon, huh? I gotta say, Jaune, I never expected you to be such a rebel!" He wrapped his arm around Jaune.

"Please, Cardin, _please_ , don't tell anyone!" Arc begged.

"Jaune, come on! I'd never rat on a friend like that!" Winchester said, venom in his tone.

' _Friend? That sounds familiar… Oh fuck, he's acting like-!'_ Realization struck me, and I was momentarily consumed with anger. ' _That piece of shit even followed me here? Why can't I get away?'_

" _Blackquill? Come on back. She's not here, and Cardin isn't worth it."_ Sky's voice cut into my recollecting, bringing me back to reality. I looked to see Winchester walking away.

"That being said, I really don't have time to do those extra readings Dr. Oobleck gave us today. Think you could take care of that for me, buddy?" He stopped at the lip of the roof. "That's what I thought." He dropped down into his dorm, but popped his head out one last time. "Don't worry, Jaune; your secret's safe with me." And with that, Arc was alone once more.

" _...You know you want to."_

' _Yeah, yeah. Fine, I'll talk to him.'_ I stood up from my perch and jumped off of the stairwell access. "Arc," I called out.

He turned around, an exasperated look on his face. "Oh, what now?" He stopped short when he saw me. "Wait, Blackquill? When did you get here?"

"I was up here trying to meditate when Nikos dragged you up here. I heard everything."

At that, his face fell. He sighed. "What do you want?"

"I'm… sorry?"

"What do you want to keep my secret, Blackquill? I'm already doing Cardin's work for him."

That admittedly stung a bit. "Well that's insulting. Is your opinion of me really that low?"

It was Arc's turn to look confused. "Wait, what?"

"Arc, I may not be a social butterfly like Valkyrie or Xiao-Long, but I have some honor. The fact that you think I'm anything like Winchester is frankly insulting."

"Then… why are you here?" he asked.

I sighed, steeling myself for what I was about to say. "I wanted to say… that I understand how you feel." He looked at me, puzzled. "I know how it feels to want to prove yourself, to want to be strong on your own, to want to protect the ones you care for. I know what feeling weak and unable to help can be like."

"Is… is that why you're so obsessed with training, Blackquill?" he asked. At my nod, he continued. "So… you're always pushing yourself so hard to get stronger… for who?"

"My sister," I replied without hesitation. "And strength is one part of my training. I suppose the other is… a sort of penance, I suppose. A way to make up for my greatest failure."

"Your greatest failure?" he echoed.

"Yes. I'm not going to go into it, but I see my training and my isolation as a way to repay my debt." I sat on the lip of the roof, one leg dangling off. "But you know, Arc, when I chose this path… When I chose to walk the road of loneliness and strength, I made a promise to myself. I swore that I would be the only one to walk this road, and that I would do everything in my power to ensure that no one else would ever have to." I turned to look at Arc, my eyes meeting his. "So take this as the best advice I can give. Don't be like me. Don't push everyone away. I could see it in her eyes, Arc; Nikos wants to help you."

"I don't want her help," he replied, bitterness in his tone. "I can't keep slowing my team down."

"She didn't offer it because she thinks you're slowing them down," I told him. "She offered because she gives a damn about you, and wants to help you find your true potential. Remember that." I stood up. "Regardless, there was one other thing I wanted to tell you."

"And what was that?" he asked curiously.

"If Winchester steps over the line, and it's at the point where you can't handle it alone, let me know," I said. "I'll be more than glad to offer assistance."

"Wait… did you just offer to help me?" I could tell he was shocked. "You, Blackquill, the guy who might as well be the definition of "Might Makes Right," the guy who seems to be ambivalent at best towards everyone, wants to help me? Who are you, and what have you done with the real Blackquill?"

"First of all, I have never espoused "Might Makes Right," I told him. "That is frankly stupid. I may want to become stronger, but that doesn't mean that strength is always the answer. Was I not up here meditating before you and Nikos dropped by?" I shook my head, realizing I was off-topic. "And secondly, yes, I do wish to help. For two reasons. One, Winchester is a piece of shit who really should be put in his place. And two…" My voice dropped to a mumble. "You remind me of me when I was younger…"

"Uh… could you say that again? I couldn't hear."

"I said you remind me of myself when I was younger!" I shouted. I brought my tone back to normal. "I've been in a very similar position to you, Arc. I know exactly how it feels to be beholden to a bully. That's why I'm so willing to help. You happy now?"

He took a step forward, meeting my gaze. "I… I'm sorry if I dredged up painful memories. And for what it's worth, Blackquill… thanks. You're not as bad as you try to seem."

"Yeah, yeah." I waved him off. "Just remember this. Don't let Winchester make you compromise who you are. If it comes down to either staying at Beacon or being true to yourself, the latter should win." With that, I leapt off the roof to the ground below, using a blast of wind to slow my fall. After landing on my feet, I started walking towards the dorm building.

" _You're such a hypocrite sometimes. You know that, right?"_ Sky accused.

' _And what would make you say that, Sky?'_ I asked, bemused.

" _You're busy telling Jaune to accept help from Pyrrha, and yet you push your own team away when they want to help."_

' _Different situations require different solutions, Sky,'_ I chided. ' _The burden I bear now is mine alone. Brightwing and Stonebur have no relation to it, and I'm sure as hell not letting Emily bear it.'_

" _Whatever you have to tell yourself to keep up your delusional pity."_ She sighed. " _I'm sure it won't make any difference, but I might as well at least tell you this. You do know that what happened isn't your fault, and that she wouldn't blame you for what happened? She took that bullet for you of her own volition."_

' _And she wouldn't have HAD to if I hadn't frozen up. That's on me.'_ I stopped at the door to the dorm building. ' _Sky, I've had this argument with Emily and other thousands of times. You aren't going to sway me.'_

" _...Fine. But you at least owe your team an explanation. It's going to come up eventually, especially in December."_

' _I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.'_ With that, I stopped paying attention to Sky and focused on my Aura Sight, making sure there wasn't anyone passing by the door. Satisfied, I entered, still keeping my Semblance active. ' _Might as well get some practice in, since I didn't get any on the roof.'_

Expanding my sensory field, I noticed a signature walking towards me from the hallway up ahead. The silhouette revealed it to be a Faunus, judging by the cat ears. I opened my eyes, preparing for the inevitable late-night pleasantries with a student I didn't even know, when I noticed exactly who the signature belonged to.

"Oh. Blackquill. Good evening," Belladonna greeted me quietly.

"Belladonna," I replied, my eyes subtly sliding up to the bow she wore constantly. ' _Of course… That explains a few things…'_ I had noticed her bow twitching from time to time, but had written it off as a trick of the mind. "What are you doing up this late?"

"I would ask you the same thing, Blackquill." She crossed her arms. "Were you out training again?"

"Meditating, actually," I replied. "Physical strength is rather useless without a clear head to use it effectively."

She nodded a that. "Fair enough. I was just going to the library to clear my head a bit. Trouble sleeping and all that." At my nod, she started walking past me. "You have a good night, Blackquill."

With that, I continued on my way as well. ' _So Arc wasn't the only one hiding something… I suppose that with assholes like Winchester running around, hiding Faunus heritage isn't exactly a foolish idea. Still… who else has skeletons in their closet?'_ That thought stayed on my mind, even after I had reached my dorm and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 **Alright, this is Chapter 4 for you! And so Blackquill reveals he isn't all cold and heartless. I'll admit, I always felt a bit bad for Jaune. The guy just keeps winding up as the punching bag. If anyone in canon is getting some major character development here, it's gonna be him. Not that the others won't, of course.**

 **I'll admit, I'm a bit worried about writing in the perspectives of canon characters. I have massive respect for Monty and his creations, and I want to do them justice. I'd love a bit of advice when it comes to writing them.**

 **As always, comments, reviews, and constructive criticism are always welcome! Next time: Chapter 5- Bonds of Blood and Steel.**

 **This is GoldenCyclone4, signing out.**


	9. Chapter 5- Bonds of Blood and Steel

**BREK Chapter 5- Bonds of Blood and Steel**

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth. Kingdom Hearts is owned by Disney and Square Enix. I own nothing but my own characters.

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Beacon Academy- Cafeteria**

It had been two weeks since I had learned Arc's secret, and it seemed Winchester was taking full advantage of his leverage. Just by observing Arc, I could tell that he had been staying up late and getting very little sleep, likely because he was doing assignments for all of Team CRDL. And it seemed that I wasn't the only one noticing all of this.

"Has anyone noticed Jaune's been a little… off?" Brightwing asked at lunch. We were sitting at our usual table, with Team RWBY and the rest of JNPR joining us.

"You mean other than the fact that he's been hanging out with Cardin and his goons?" Belladonna replied, not looking up from her food.

"Yeah, he's also been getting home _really_ late," Valkyrie pointed out, in between her attempts to physically inhale her plate.

"You think it's related?" Stonebur questioned. I kept my silence, knowing that anything I said would likely hurt Arc's case in one way or another.

"I'm sure our leader knows _exactly_ what he's doing," Nikos cut in bitterly. I glanced over to where Winchester and Arc were sitting, the former with a shit-eating grin and the latter looking away in shame.

' _This isn't my fight,'_ I thought to myself, ' _so why the hell do I want to get involved so much?'_

" _You know full well why,"_ Sky replied. " _You want to help because you've been in his shoes. So stop fighting it and do something."_

I sighed inwardly. ' _Dammit, why are you always right?'_

" _Because I know how you think. Sometimes, it seems, even better than you do. So are you going to keep arguing with yourself or are you going to help?"_

' _You can read my mind. You should already know the answer.'_

That night, as I was walking back to my dorm, I found Rose and Arc outside Team JNPR's door. It seemed I had walked into a conversation between the two.

"…So! Where have you been lately?" Rose asked.

"I… uh…" He gave up on trying to make an excuse, hanging his head and sighing. ""I messed up. I did something I shouldn't have, and now Cardin has me on a leash, and Pyrrha won't even talk to me, and..." he paused, before continuing, ""I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea." He slid down the door to the ground. "I'm a failure."

Rose seemed to consider this for a minute, before replying with a simple, "Nope!"

"Nope?" Arc asked, bewildered.

"Nope! You're a leader now, Jaune. You're not allowed to be a failure."

"But... what if I'm a failure at being a leader?" Arc asked.

Rose looked like she was thinking again, but just responded with another "Nope!" as she joined him on the floor.

Arc gave a laugh at her reply. "You know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff."

"Nope!" Rose's face turned serious. "Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid..." This earned a groan as Arc sank lower, "...and you might've even been a failure the first day we met!" Another groan, as Arc tried to sink further into the floor. "But, you can't be one now. You know why?"

Arc looked up at this. "Uh… Because…?"

I decided to cut in at this point. "Because it's not only about you anymore, Arc." I walked closer, ignoring Rose's surprised look. "We're leaders now, Arc, all three of us. We're responsible for more than just ourselves. We can't afford to fail, because if we do, our teams fail with us."

Rose nodded, apparently over my surprise entrance. "Blackquill's right, Jaune. We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second. Your team deserves a great leader, Jaune. And I think that can be you." She stood up and moved towards the door to her team's dorm. "Have a good night, Jaune! You too, Blackquill!" she called before entering her room.

Arc stood up as well, looking inspired by her words. I met his eyes. "She's right, Arc. You can be a great leader, even if you aren't the strongest physically. You have… I suppose I could call it the spirit of a leader. Don't forget that."

I turned to leave, but before I could I heard Arc's Scroll ring. When he answered, I could practically feel the smugness that radiated from Winchester's voice. " **Hey! It's your buddy Cardin! I know you're probably busy with that Dust project I gave you, buuuut I'm gonna need you to go out and get me a bag of Rapier Wasps. And make sure they've got some really big stingers! It's important, so don't screw this up!** "

"What does he need Rapier Wasps for?" Arc asked, fear in his voice.

I turned and met his eyes. "Remember the advice I gave you, Arc. Don't sacrifice who you are." I spun on my heel and began walking away. "What happens next is entirely your choice."

* * *

 **Kana Brightwing**

 **Forest of Forever Fall**

As we walked through the Forest of Forever Fall, I couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of the trees surrounding us. A forest that was perpetually in autumn… the warm colors just looked so amazing in the sunlight.

"…Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful," Professor Goodwitch was saying to the group of students on our field trip. Each of us had been given a glass jar this morning before being led onto a Bullhead out to the forest. "But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so." We came to a stop, and I spared a glance at Jaune, who was balancing six empty jars to the best of his abilities.

Professor Goodwitch held up a jar full of a red substance. "Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here by 4 o'clock. Have fun!" With that, we all dispersed into our teams. As we did, I turned back to where Jaune was, only to see him getting dragged off by Cardin.

"Hmm… What is he up to?" I heard Emily mutter under her breath.

"You wanna find out?" I asked, making her jump.

"I keep forgetting you have enhanced senses…" she replied, trying to calm herself. She took a deep breath before continuing. "But to answer the question, yeah. I do." She turned to her brother. "Tyler?"

"If you wish to follow them, I won't stop you," Blackquill told us. "I only ask that you do not interfere unless absolutely necessary."

"Interfere with what?" I asked.

He paused, like he was choosing his words carefully. "I'm not at liberty to discuss the true issue at hand. Just know that this is Arc's choice now, and that he must accept the consequences, good or bad." With that, he turned his attention to driving a spigot into a nearby tree.

I looked to Emily. "So… We're following them then?"

"Yup."

We stayed a safe distance from Jaune and Cardin as they collected sap from various trees. Eventually they came to a stop at the top of a hill overlooking the area of forest the other students were in. We hid in the tree line, and I used my enhanced hearing to listen in and relay the conversation to Emily.

"Cardin, wh-what's going on?" I heard Jaune ask.

The boy smiled. "Payback."

I could see Jaune's eyes widen. "Pyrrha… Wh-what are you-?"

Cardin cut him off. "That's the girl. Red-haired know-it-all, thinks she's so smart. Alright, boys..." He grabbed a small cardboard box. It shook slightly, and I could hear the tell-tale buzz of Rapier Wasps. "Last night, old Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of Rapier Wasps, and now, we're gonna put him to work."

' _What is he… Oh Dust!"_ I gasped, putting the pieces together. I looked back to tell Emily, but by the steel in her eyes I could tell she had figured it out too.

"That bastard," she growled. "He is so paying for this."

I turned back to the conversation, trying to refocus my hearing. "Now, according to one of the essays you wrote for me last week, these nasty things _loooove_ sweets. I'm thinking it's time we teach _her_ a thing or two." Wait, Jaune had written essays for Cardin? Why would he do that?

' _Does Cardin have something on him? Is that why Blackquill said he couldn't discuss the issue?'_ I shook my head. I could figure that out later; there were more pressing concerns.

I focused again, having missed a small bit of conversation while lost in thought. "Hit her with the sap!" Cardin was telling Jaune. He leaned in close. "Either that, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon." That settled it—Cardin was definitely blackmailing him.

Jaune seemed to be struggling with the decision. I silently prayed he would make the right choice, but winced as I saw him wind up as if to throw. He paused however, and the next word he spoke made me smile wide. "No."

"What did you say?" Cardin asked.

"I said… **NO!** " He spun on his heel and chucked the jar right at Cardin's chest. The glass shattered instantly on his armor, letting sap coat his breastplate. Far from being shocked, however, Cardin just chuckled darkly.

"Oh, you've done it now…" He said, approaching the boy…

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Forest of Forever Fall**

I looked up as I heard a flock of birds scatter. Nikos had looked up too, gazing up a nearby hill.

"You okay, Pyrrha?" Rose asked her, walking over.

Nikos nodded. "I'm fine, just-" she was cut off by a loud belch from Valkyrie. A quick examination revealed the girl to be surrounded by empty sap jars. The sound of my palm impacting my forehead disturbed another flock of nearby birds.

As the sting faded, I looked back to where Nikos had been staring. ' _I hope you chose correctly, Arc. For your sake and mine.'_

* * *

 **Emily Blackquill**

 **Forest of Forever Fall**

I held my arm out to block Kana from rushing towards where Jaune had just been thrown to the ground. The girl struggled against me. "What the hell are you doing?" she whispered urgently. "He needs our help!"

I shook my head. "Remember what my brother said? We shouldn't interfere unless absolutely necessary."

Kana looked at me like I'd grown a second head. "And this doesn't qualify?"

"No, it doesn't. Cardin may rough him up, but he can't do anything major, or else others will notice." I allowed a tiny smirk to slip onto my face. "And he won't be able to tell any lies, since we're here."

Kana grumbled. "We're letting our friend get hurt." She again tried to move past me, but I stepped in front of her.

"I know," I replied, trying to calm her down. "I don't like it either. But Tyler wouldn't ask us to not interfere without a good reason. He knows something we don't." I turned back to the hill, where Cardin had pulled Jaune up by his collar.

"You _know_ that wasn't very smart, Jauney boy," he said, now loud enough for me to hear without Kana relaying everything to me. "I'm gonna make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny tiny _pieces_."

Jaune looked Cardin dead in the eye, his own burning with anger. "I don't care what you do to me. But you are **not** messing with my team." My smirk became a full-blown grin at those words.

' _Atta boy, Jaune.'_

They had an opposite effect on Cardin, however, and he shook Jaune harder. "What? You think talk like that makes you tough? You think you're like Wind Boy down there?" Jaune only smiled. Cardin reared back to punch him again, but as he connected, a bright flash emanated from Jaune, so powerful I had to shield my eyes.

As the light cleared, I saw Jaune on the ground, completely healed, and Cardin clutching his hand in pain. I noticed a faint glow around Jaune. ' _Was that… Was that Jaune's Semblance?'_ I didn't have time to contemplate, as one of Cardin's teammates kicked Jaune in the back and sent him sprawling.

Cardin, seemingly having recovered, walked over to the prone boy. "Let's see how much of a man you _really_ are..." Before he could do anything, a low growl echoed throughout the area. I turned and saw a massive Ursa Major approaching.

"That's… that's a big Ursa…" Kana whispered. I kept watching as the Grimm approached the group. It leapt right into their midst, sniffing the air before focusing on Cardin. The Ursa let out a bellowing roar, causing the rest of Cardin's team to flee. The Ursa slammed Cardin with its paw, sending him flying onto his back. It completely ignored the cowering Jaune, exclusively focused on the other boy.

' _Why would… of course, the sap!'_ I thought to myself. Kana had already summoned her Light Blasters and was taking aim at the Ursa. ' _Dammit… Do we get involved? I haven't gotten a vision, so Jaune isn't in danger, but Cardin…"_ I watched on as the Ursa drew closer…

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Forest of Forever Fall**

A loud roar interrupted the conversations in the clearing. "Did you guys hear that?" Rose asked, looking concerned. Before anyone could answer, the members of Team CRDL burst through the trees.

"Ursa, Ursa!" one of them called before running straight into Xiao-Long.

"What?!" She picked the boy up by his shirt to look him in the eyes. "Where?"

He pointed back the way they came. "Back there! It's got Cardin!"

Nikos dropped her jar. "Jaune!"

Rose instantly became serious. "Yang! You and Blake, go get Professor Goodwitch!" Xiao-Long nodded as she dropped the CRDL member, rushing off with Belladonna close behind.

"You two, go with them!" Nikos ordered to Ren and Valkyrie. "There could be more!" I nodded to Stonebur, who got the message and followed the JNPR members. Nikos, Rose, and Schnee all drew their weapons, and I summoned my bow.

"Let's move." I took off towards the source of the roar, the three Huntresses right behind me.

* * *

 **Kana Brightwing**

 **Forest of Forever Fall**

I watched as Cardin was batted around by the Ursa, trying to pick the right moment to fire. I didn't want to hit either of my fellow students, but the bully was making that goal rather difficult. Before I could ask Emily to step in and pull him out, I heard several presences approaching from behind us. I whipped around to see Blackquill, Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha. The four newcomers quickly took stock of the situation.

"Oh, no!" Pyrrha cried. Everyone watched as the Ursa's massive paw reared back to strike Cardin… only for Jaune to rush in and block it with his shield. I could see he was struggling, and switched my Blasters to Sword Form in preparation to help him.

"Hold." Blackquill declared, stepping in front of me with his arm out.

' _Again?'_ I thought, irritated with my leader. "Is there a reason you're stopping me?" I asked heatedly.

"Watch," he said simply. I reluctantly did as instructed. Jaune quickly slashed at the Ursa's belly, then rolled away from its attempt to crush him in retaliation. He jumped a leg sweep, but unfortunately took a paw to the face and was sent sprawling. He landed on his feet and pushed forward. He tried a leaping thrust, but was knocked away by the Ursa again. As he landed, he checked his Scroll. His grimace told me all I needed to know.

' _His Aura is in the red… and yet we're just standing here? Why?'_ Jaune rushed the Grimm again as it charged at him. As he moved to strike, I could see he was wide open for a devastating strike. ' _No!'_ Before the blows connected, however, a dark crimson aura manifested around Jaune's shield, moving it in front of the Ursa's claws. As that happened, a white aura surrounded his body. Jaune slammed his shield upwards to knock the Grimm off balance, and with a speed I thought impossible, slashed through the Grimm's neck. The head hit the ground just before the body fell over, dead.

I turned back to see both Blackquill and Pyrrha's hands veiled in a fading glow. "Uh… What?" Ruby asked.

"How did you…?" Weiss questioned, as confused as I was.

Pyrrha smiled. "Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs. My Semblance is polarity."

Ruby's voice was full of amazement. "Whoa, you can control _poles_..." I heard a loud _smack_ and turned to see Blackquill facepalming.

"No, you dunce! It means she has control over magnetism!" Weiss said, slapping her leader upside the head.

Ruby was undeterred. "Magnets are cool, too…"

I turned my attention back to Blackquill. "And what did you do?"

He shrugged. "Air is often associated with swiftness and agility. I used a simple spell to raise his striking speed." He turned and began walking away, Pyrrha following after him.

"Wait, where are you two going?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah! We gotta tell them what happened!" Ruby agreed.

"We could... Or perhaps we could keep it our little secret?" Pyrrha replied with a conspiratorial tone. And with that, I understood exactly why Blackquill had told us not to interfere.

' _You knew about this whole thing, didn't you?'_ I thought. ' _You didn't step in, not because you didn't care, but because you wanted Jaune to get through this himself… There really is more to you than what you show, Blackquill…"_

I turned to look at where Jaune was now pulling Cardin to his feet. I focused, and heard something that brought the biggest grin I had had all day. "Don't _ever_ mess with my team - my **friends** \- _ever_ again. Got it?" The scared look on Cardin's face spoke far louder than any words.

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Beacon Academy- Dormitory Roof**

That night, I found myself on the roof again. This time, though, I was watching Arc as he stared out into the city skyline. Nikos soon joined him. "No Cardin tonight?" she asked teasingly. "I thought you two were best friends."

Arc turned to her. "Pyrrha... I'm sorry," he told her. "I was a jerk! You were only trying to be nice, and... I had all this stupid macho stuff in my head-"

Nikos cut him off. "Jaune! It's okay!" She smiled at him. "Your team really misses their leader, you know." She turned towards the stairwell. "You should come down! Ren made pancakes! No syrup, though - you can thank Nora for that!"

I waited for the inevitable. "Wait!" Arc called after her. Nikos looked at her sheepish leader. "I know I don't deserve it after all that happened, but... would you still be willing to help me... to help me become a better fighter?"

Nikos turned around again, and I caught the corner of a smile on her face. She walked towards her leader, before shoving him to the ground. "Hey!"

She stood over him with her hands on her hips. "Your stance is all wrong. You need to be wider and lower to the ground," she evaluated, before offering Arc her hand. "Let's try that again." She pulled him to his feet and smiled.

" _Go on. Do it."_

' _Get off my back, Sky,'_ I chided my Spirit. ' _I'm getting there.'_ I decided to announce my presence before the two went any further. "As much as I would hate to interrupt, I have something I need to say." Arc and Nikos looked up in shock as I hopped off the stairwell entrance.

"Blackquill?" Nikos asked. "What are you doing up here?" There was definitely suspicion in her tone.

I held my hands up in front of me. "Peace, Nikos. I came here with an offer for Arc."

"Me?" the boy in question asked me. "Why?"

"As I told you before, you remind me a lot of myself," I replied, walking over to him. "So… I would like to give you the same opportunity Nikos has."

He took a minute to understand what I was saying. "Wait… you want to train me too?"

I nodded. "Indeed. Simply put, there are things that Nikos has less experience with than I do." I gestured to her. "She's a tournament fighter. While she can teach you much about proper stance and form, I can teach you techniques to stay alive in a street fight or out in the wilds."

Arc looked to Nikos. "Is he right, Pyrrha?"

Nikos pondered my words for a moment before nodding. "Blackquill has a good point. He and I have very different fighting styles. Having more than one teacher can give you multiple perspectives, making you better overall. And I'm inclined to believe there are things he knows that I don't, and vice versa."

Arc looked back to me. "Okay… so how would this work, if I were to accept?"

I shrugged. "I suppose we could do an alternating schedule. Nikos trains you Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, while I train you Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. You can have Sunday off, or choose to train with either of us. Is that agreeable with you, Nikos?"

She nodded. "That sounds fair enough to me. So, Jaune?"

He considered my offer. "That… yeah, that sounds reasonable. Sure, I accept, Blackquill."

I allowed myself a small smile. "Then I suppose I will see you here tomorrow night. Until then, I wish you a good night." I turned and walked back to the stairwell. As I did, I swore I saw a brown feather float away from the roof, but it was gone as soon as I had blinked. ' _I swear, I must be seeing things…'_

* * *

 **Roark Stonebur**

 **Beacon Academy- BREK Dorm**

 _Dear Jasmine,_

 _I know It's been a bit since I last wrote, but it's been a bit chaotic recently. No need to worry about me, though. I'm doing just fine here at Beacon. I may not always agree with my leader, but Blackquill and I have reached a bit of an understanding._

I paused in writing my letter, thinking over what I wanted to say next. Before I could put pen to paper again, I was interrupted by Emily entering the dorm. "Hey, Roark. What're you doing?" she asked.

"Oh, not much," I replied, trying to act casual.

She wasn't buying it. "Uh huh. Seriously, what's up? You seemed really focused on what you were writing there."

I sighed. "If you've gotta know, I'm writing a letter to my little sister."

"Sister? I didn't know you had a sister." She walked over and peered at my paper.

"Jasmine? That's a beautiful name."

"Uh… thanks?" I wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"So, why are you writing a letter?" she asked me, pulling up a chair. "Can't you just call her on your Scroll?"

I groaned. "Then I would take the chance of having to speak to my mother. That's a chance I definitely don't want to take." I leaned back in my chair and let out a sigh. "Besides, writing a letter feels more… I don't know, satisfying? More important?"

Emily giggled. "Okay, I can understand that." Her laugh died as she processed what I had said. "Wait, so you and your mom don't get along?"

I buried my face in my hands. "Let's just say she and I have a disagreement on how I should spend my life and leave it there." I really didn't want to go into my relationship with my mother tonight.

"Ah…" she nodded sagely. "I think I understand. So then how did you wind up here at Beacon?"

"Well… you know how I said I did some vigilante stuff once I got my powers?" At her nod, I continued. "Well, I went out and took down a group of White Fang in the warehouse district. Turns out Professor Ozpin found some security footage of it and showed up at my doorstep, asking me to attend." I smiled as I remembered how furious my mother had been. "My mother couldn't turn him down without it turning into a PR nightmare for her, so here I am." My smile slipped away as my thoughts returned to my sister. "I just hate that I had to leave Jasmine behind with her…"

"You two must be really close," she said, placing her hand on mine. I welcomed the gesture.

"Yeah. We're closer than your average siblings. There are times when I feel like she's the only family I have left…" At these words, Emily's hand tightened around mine. "Uh… Emily?"

"You're wrong there." I looked up to see her eyes locked on me. "Jasmine isn't the only family you have left."

I rolled my eyes. "Emily, if you're going to give me the old "You can't choose family" speech, save it. Me and my mother just don't get along."

"I wasn't going to say that," she replied, her face softening. "I know that family can be difficult. What I was _going_ to say was that Jasmine isn't your only family, because WE are your family."

I looked at her skeptically. "Really?"

"Yes, really. Roark, family isn't just determined by blood. As far as I'm concerned, you and Kana are as much family to me as Tyler is. We're bound together, as friends, teammates, and partners. If you ask me, that's a stronger bond than blood could ever make."

I gave a smile at her words. "A bit overdramatic, eh?" At her playful smack, I continued. "Still, thanks for the sentiment, Emily. It… It means more than you could ever know."

"It's the truth, Roark. If there's anything you need, you just have to ask." She let go of my hand and moved to go sit down on her bed. Before she could, however, the door burst open, revealing a frazzled Kana.

"Kana? You okay?" I asked her.

"You… will not… believe what… I just saw," the Faunus girl panted.

"Try me," I replied.

"Blackquill… just offered… to train Jaune," she reported, trying to regain her breath.

"No, seriously, what happened?" I deadpanned. Blackquill offering to help anyone, let alone Jaune? A Beowolf walking in and doing a tap dance seemed more likely.

Emily just smiled widely. "Really? Oh, this is great! He might finally be getting back to-" she cut herself off as she slapped a hand over her mouth. At my questioning glance, she removed her hand and said, "Sorry, not my place to say." She turned her attention back to Kana. "So what happened?"

As Kana filled us in on what she had seen, my confusion only grew. Going out of his way to help Jaune seemed completely out of character for our leader, even if he apparently saw a bit of his younger self in the boy. It made no sense to me.

"…Now everything that happened in the forest makes sense!" Kana was saying.

"Wait, what do you mean?" I asked, cutting her off. "Did something happen when I was getting the professor?"

"Oh, yeah, we didn't fill you in…" Emily said. "Whoops." She gave me a quick rundown on what had occurred with Jaune and Cardin.

"So let me get this straight. You think that Blackquill had you two not interfere so that Jaune would solve his problems himself, and then gave him a boost against the Ursa to give him confidence?"

Kana nodded. "It looks like there really is more to our leader than we thought, Roark."

"Hm… I guess so." I was still skeptical, but I just couldn't find another motivation for Blackquill's actions. ' _Maybe he does have some care for others after all.'_ A thought then occurred to me. "Wait, how did you find all this out in the first place, Kana? What were you doing up on the roof?"

Kana's face turned beet red, and she looked away guiltily. "I, uh… I might have been following him since we got back…"

"…Why?"

"I wanted to see if my suspicions were right, okay?" she forced out. "I had the feeling he knew what was wrong with Jaune. So, I decided to follow him."

"I dunno… with the way you're blushing, I might wind up thinking you had an ulterior motive, Kana," Emily teased. Kana's face went crimson.

"Alright, alright, quit teasing her, Emily," I broke in. I turned to Kana. "Thanks for telling us about all this, Kana."

"I-it's no problem!" she stammered out. "I-I'm gonna go get some fresh air!" With that, she rushed out of the room almost as quickly as she had entered.

"Was that really necessary?" I asked Emily. "If you kept pressing, I thought she was gonna faint."

"Oh, relax, I was just having a little fun." She put her hand to her chin. "Though with how she reacted, I might not be too far off."

"What, you think she has some sort of crush or something? On Blackquill of all people?"

"No, I wouldn't go that far. But I get the feeling she may be looking at him in a new light…"

I shook my head at my teammate and her antics. "Right… I'm just gonna get back to my letter."

"Oh yeah, the letter." Emily hopped off her bed. "I think I'm gonna go find something to read in the library. Have fun writing to your sister!" And with that, she was out the door. I sighed, before finally putting my pen to the paper again.

 _There really is more to my leader than meets the eye, I suppose. He even decided to help out one of our classmates who was lagging behind. If you had told me he'd do something like that a month ago, I'd have laughed like a madman…_

 _Emily continues to be a great partner. While she's a huge tease and a bit of a troll, her heart's in the right place, and she's amazing in combat. I used to think Kana was really demure and gentle, but she's really been coming into her own as a Huntress. She's become a force to be reckoned with in combat with her powers and her weapons. Yet she's still kind and caring, even seeing the best of someone like Blackquill._

 _Ah, I'm getting off track. How are things back home? I hope Mother isn't giving you too much trouble… please tell me if she's becoming too much to handle. I'll be home for the Winter Break, so we can see each other then. Until then, try to hold out. I love you, Jazz._

 _Your Brother,_

 _Roark_

 **And there's Chapter 5! They just keep getting bigger! Though I suppose that's a good thing...**

 **I'll admit, I really wasn't sure how to handle Forever Fall at first, especially considering my aforementioned uncertainty of writing under a canon perspective. Still, I think I pulled it out well enough. Honestly, the first thing that came to mind was actually the scene at the end between Roark and Emily. When this whole thing started out in my head, Roark was just kinda... there as the fourth member, so I'm determined to really give him a character all his own.**

 **Let me know what you guys think! Should I try my hand at writing under canon perspectives more? How good was the chapter? Comments, constructive criticism, and reviews are always welcome! Next time: Chapter 6- Remembrance.**

 **This is GoldenCyclone4, signing out.**


	10. Chapter 6- Remembrance

**BREK Chapter 6- Remembrance**

 **Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth. Kingdom Hearts is owned by Disney and Square Enix. I own nothing but my own characters.**

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Beacon Academy- Dormitory Roof**

My left blade quickly swung up and deflected my foe's sword, my right trying to find my way around his shield. Arc was no slouch, however, and directed his shield to parry the strike. He moved his body with it, shoving forward in an attempt to knock me off balance. I leapt into a backflip, combining my blades and firing a volley of arrows at the apex of my jump. Arc threw himself into a sideways roll and came up with his shield covering most of his crouching body, blocking a few stray arrows. I was already rushing him with my blades, however, leaving him no room to stand up. He lashed out at my legs with his own sword, distracting me long enough for him to quickly thrust upward with his shield and get back to his feet. I channeled a bit of Wind Magic into my blades and launched into a flurry of slashes. Arc tried to block them all, but several got past and pushed him back. What I failed to notice, at least until it was too late, was Arc's eyes, studying the pattern of my blows. At one single opportune moment, when my combo left me unguarded after a twin overhand slash, Arc thrust out with his sword, connecting with my neck.

"Hold!" Nikos called from the sideline. Both of us withdrew, Arc sheathing his blade while I dismissed mine. "Excellent work, Jaune. You're getting better by the day!" She had decided to officiate a match between the two of us to see how far Arc had come after a month of training.

I held my hand out to the blond. "Nikos is right, Arc. I'm actually impressed at your progress." It wasn't a lie; the boy had improved markedly under our tutelage.

He took the offered handshake. "Thanks. Getting an honest compliment from you means I've gotta be doing something right." He turned to Nikos. "It's all thanks to you and Pyrrha."

Nikos nodded. "Yes, I could see you applying his lessons in the fight. That shield bash was very well timed."

"And you're putting Nikos's tutelage to work as well," I added. "You held your ground and played defensively until you found your opening. It was a well earned victory." My expression turned somber. "That being said, I'm afraid I'll be missing our training session tomorrow."

Arc looked at me quizzically. "Why's that? Is something up?"

"Personal reasons that I quite frankly do not wish to discuss," I replied. "You can use tomorrow as a rest day or train with Nikos." I turned and headed towards the stairs.

"You know, Blackquill," Nikos called after me, "if something is wrong, you can tell us. You may not consider us friends, but we do, and we're willing to help."

I shook my head. "As I said, it's a personal matter. It's nothing you should concern yourselves with." With that, I left the rooftop.

* * *

 **Emily Blackquill**

 **Beacon Academy- BREK Dormitory**

"So your mind's made up?" I asked, watching my brother put together a small bag to take with him.

"Yes," he answered simply. He turned to me. "I've already placed a marker at a spot in the forest. Sky showed me a simple repellant spell to keep animals and weaker Grimm away, and I cleared out a pack of Beowolves in the area as well. I'm doing this, Emily. Please don't try to stop me."

I sighed. "I'm not going to. I know how much this means to you. I just ask two things. One, leave a note for Kana and Roark, please." He grunted, but nodded his head. "And two, take your Scroll with you, and call me if anything goes wrong. I know that you want to be left alone tomorrow, but _please_ call me if you run into something you can't handle." Before he could nod again, I held out my hand. "I want to hear you say it. That way I know you'll do it."

"I promise that if I encounter a threat I can't handle alone, I will call you for assistance," he at last said, begrudgingly. "Satisfied?"

"Yup." I walked over to my brother and gave him a hug. "Be safe, bro. I'll see you tomorrow night."

"I will."

I awoke to Kana shaking my shoulder. "Emily, wake up!" whispered urgently.

"I'm up, I'm up," I replied, still drowsy. "What's the problem?"

"Blackquill's gone! He left a note, but he's disappeared from campus!"

I rolled my eyes. "Did you read the note? Because I know where he is." At her puzzled look, I continued. "We talked about it last night while you two were studying in the library. He'll be back by nightfall."

"I told you to read the note before you freaked out, Kana," Roark called from the closet. He emerged, wearing a set of casual street clothes. "He said he had something personal to do, and that we shouldn't bug him unless it was big time urgent. Dunno why he's headed into the Emerald Forest, but he's a big kid. He can handle most of the Grimm in that forest."

The Faunus girl at least had the shame to look embarrassed. "Heh, heh… I guess I probably should have read the note. Sorry."

I waved her off. "It's no problem."

"So, are we allowed to hear what exactly your brother's doing?" Roark asked. At my head shake, he sighed. "That figures."

"Look, I'm sorry, Roark. Unless something dramatic happens, it's just not my story to tell. My brother will open up when he's ready." ' _At least, I hope…'_

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Emerald Forest- Clearing**

I stood alone in the clearing, staring at the small grave I had set up. Slowly, I approached, pulling my pendant from underneath my shirt. As I knelt at the marker, I pressed the buttons on either side of the pendant, opening it to look at the picture inside. I could still remember the day it was taken. There was Emily, smirking from the side, and my younger self, happy as could be as I held a beautiful red haired girl close. ' _Amy…'_ Just the sight of her radiant smile caused me to start tearing up.

I tore my gaze away from the picture to look at the words carved into the stone marker: Amy Kallian- 2000-2015. I stared at the words, before beginning to speak. "Hey, Amy. Happy birthday." I pulled a rose out of my bag and placed it on the grave. "October 25th. I told you I'd never forget." I sighed. "You… you would have been 18 today. We could have finally… we could have taken our relationship further today." I could feel the tears on my cheek. "I'm sorry I couldn't actually visit you today. I would have if I could, but I hope this will be enough."

I sat back on the ground. "I have to wonder… am I even worthy enough to be here? Do I even… Do I even deserve to talk to you? You gave everything for me… You saved me. And I… because of me, you're…" I choked out. "Even now, I'm still so weak. I can't even say it. I'm so sorry, Amy. You're… you're gone, and it's all my fault." I wiped my eyes. "I still miss you. Every day, I wish I could wake up, and have this all be a bad dream. I wish I could wake up and see your smile again." Another sigh, this one resigned. "But… I know this is my reality now. I know that you're… you're gone. And I can't change what happened that day, no matter how much I wish I could. So… so now I'll keep doing my best to atone. I'll become better than I was before, Amy. I'll make sure no one else has to lose someone like you. My only wish…. My only wish is that you hear this, wherever you are, Amy, and that you're proud of what I'm trying to do." At this, I slowly got back to my feet. I looked down at the grave, staring at the single rose at its base.

"I love you, Amy. Thank you for listening." I spared one last glance at my pendant before closing it and slipping it back under my shirt, before turning and leaving the clearing.

* * *

 **Blake Belladonna**

 **Beacon Academy- Courtyard**

"So… why did you drag us out here, Ruby?" I asked my team leader. Weiss, Yang, and I had each been pulled out to the courtyard in turn by the hyperactive girl.

Ruby cracked a nervous smile. "Well, I _kinda sorta_ had a surprise I wanted to show you. Check this out!" She pulled a large box out from behind her back. "Ta-da!"

"You wanted to show us a box?" Weiss asked, her tone laced with sarcasm.

"No, silly," Ruby replied. "It's what's _in_ the box! Voila!" She opened the box, revealing several bags of…

"Cookies?" I asked aloud. Indeed, there were at least twenty small bags of cookies in the box, with many different types and flavors.

"Yup!" The nervousness had seeped into her voice now. "There was a new bakery opening in Vale today, and, well, I talked Yang into going with me to check it out. They were having a big opening sale, and they had a student discount, and, well, I wanted to do something nice, so I thought, 'Hey, I should get cookies for my friends!' So then I tried to think about what cookies everyone would like, and I was like, 'Hey, maybe I can figure it out based on what I know about them,' but that was so difficult, so I, uh… just bought a few of everything…" She paused, trying to catch her breath. "So, uh… yeah."

Yang leaned over to whisper in my ear. "She seriously spent almost an hour trying to figure out what you two would like. That's how seriously she took this."

I felt a smile slip onto my face. Ruby had put so much effort and care into getting these cookies, and I could tell that she really hoped we liked them. "Thank you, Ruby. It means a lot that you'd go so far out of your way to get something we'd like." I stepped closer and looked over the selection in the box. My eyes caught on a particular bag. "Oh, ginger snaps? Perfect." I could see the visible relief on Ruby's face as I took the bag.

Weiss came forward next. "Oh, I suppose indulging in a few cookies won't hurt." She grabbed a bag of sugar cookies. "Thank you for the thought, Ruby."

As Yang was grabbing a bag of shortbread cookies, I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see Blackquill walking past, a small bag on his back. "Oh, hi, Blackquill!" Ruby called. The boy nodded a greeting.

"Where were you all day?" Weiss asked him. "Don't you normally spend the weekend studying or training? I don't think I saw you on campus at all today."

"Where I was is not any of your concern," he answered as he continued past us.

"There's no need to be rude, y'know," Yang told him.

"There was no rudeness intended. I simply answered her question." He turned to look at us. "I have no wish to talk about where I was today." With that, he continued on his way, but not before I noticed his face. Reddened and puffy eyes, and were those… ' _Tear marks?'_ I thought to myself. ' _What happened to him?'_

* * *

"Tear marks, you say?" Weiss asked. "Are you sure?" After our run-in with Blackquill, we had headed to dinner, where I had told my teammates about what I had seen.

I nodded. "Positive. I don't know why, but he was definitely crying today."

"I think I might be able to give you some info," Roark said from the other side of the table. "He left a note today saying he was headed into the Emerald Forest. And that barring a major emergency, that he was to be left alone."

"Hmm…" Kana spoke up, "Now that I think about it… He's headed out into the forest a few times. But I don't know why."

"So we have him headed out into the forest several times, alone, not wanting to be disturbed, and coming back with signs of crying..." I recapped. "How does it all add up?" As I asked that, Ruby gasped. "Did you think of something, Ruby?"

The crimson haired girl nodded. "Well, it might sound stupid, and it doesn't make much sense to me… but all of those sound like what I do when I go to see... " She paused, collecting herself. "When I go to see my mother's grave."

"Oh, Ruby…" I started to apologize. "I didn't mean to bring up something like that-"

"It's fine," she cut me off. 'I can handle it." But Yang was already moving to hug her sister.

Weiss cleared her throat. "I don't mean to interrupt, but you were right on one account, Ruby. It doesn't make any sense. Blackquill isn't from Remnant. Whose grave would he be visiting?"

Ren decided to speak up then. "Why don't we ask the one who knows the most?" And with that, all eyes fell on Emily.

"I'll tell you what I told Roark. It's not my story to tell," she said. "However… I can tell you that Ruby is right. He… he lost someone important to him. So he made a small grave for them here, in order to honor them." Her face turned serious. "Please don't try to bug him for info. It's not a subject he likes talking about. He'll open up when he's ready, alright?"

After we all agreed to leave the subject be for now, everyone got back to their dinner. Ruby pulled out her cookie box, which went over very well. I noticed Kana studying the box intently. She leaned over to Emily, and I heard her ask, "Emily, what's Blackquill's favorite cookie?"

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Beacon Academy- BREK Dormitory**

I returned from a late night training session to find a small bag sitting on my bed. Closer examination revealed it to be a bag of snickerdoodle cookies, with a note attached. I pulled the note from the bag and studied it.

 _Blackquill,_

 _I don't know why, but I know you're hurting. I may not know the details, but I can tell that something painful happened in your past. Something you really don't want to talk about. I can understand that, and I'm sorry that you had to go through it. I know how it feels to have a painful history. So… I wanted to try to make you feel a little bit happier today. Ruby got a bunch of cookies in town today, so I asked Emily what your favorite kind was. I hope this makes you feel even a tiny bit better…_

 _Your teammate,_

 _Kana_

I put the note down and looked over at Brightwing's bed, where she was sleeping peacefully. ' _She really did that?'_ I looked back at the bag of cookies. ' _She went out of her way to try to make me feel better… Why?'_

" _Maybe because she cares about you?"_ Sky pointed out. " _She wants to see you happy, Blackquill. You're her partner, and from what I've seen of Kana, she wants those close to her to feel good. So seeing you like this makes her feel terrible."_

' _She cares that much?'_ I stopped and thought about this. ' _I've been nothing but cold and distant to her, and yet she still wants me to be happy?'_

" _Shocking, isn't it. Someone actually gives a damn."_

I looked back at my partner. After a few seconds, I sighed. ' _Thank you, Brightwing. I… I appreciate the gesture.'_ I placed the bag of cookies on my nightstand and got ready for bed, a small smile on my face.

* * *

 **Alright, here's Chapter 6! It's a short one, I know, but I really wanted to get this chapter out. This is less of a story filled chapter and more of a character focused one; I wanted to shed a bit more light on Blackquill's motivations. It also gave me an opportunity to try my hand at canon perspectives again, and I think I did fairly well with Ruby and Blake.**

 **As always, I appreciate any comments, constructive criticism, and reviews! Be sure to let me know what you think! It's the only way I can improve, after all. Next time: Chapter 7- Specters of the Past.**

 **This is GoldenCyclone4, signing out.**


	11. Chapter 7- Specters of the Past

**BREK Chapter 7- Specters of the Past**

 **Disclaimer- RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth. Kingdom Hearts is owned by Disney and Square Enix. I own nothing but my own characters.**

* * *

 **Roark Stonebur**

 **Beacon Academy- BREK Dormitory**

"You wanna run that by me again?" I asked. Kana, Emily, and I were sitting on our beds, studying for our upcoming midterms. Our instructors had given us the week off in order to allow us to focus on preparing.

"I said, my brother is probably not going to be on campus much tomorrow," Emily repeated, her eyes never leaving the history textbook she was reading. "And if you do see him, let him be."

"...And what possible reason could he have for leaving this time?" I asked, exasperation seeping into my tone. Ever since his visit to the Emerald Forest two months ago, Blackquill had been a bit less distant with us, but he still kept his cards close to his chest, never really letting his guard down. Him disappearing again, especially so close to Finals, could very well mean just about anything.

"You already know how I'm going to answer that, Roark," Emily said, setting her book down. She let out a big sigh. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you." As she looked up and met my gaze, I was taken aback by the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. "I… I really wish I could, guys. I wish I could tell you and have this whole drama be over. But Tyler made his wishes on the issue abundantly clear to me. I may not agree with him, but I care about him enough to respect those wishes."

Kana walked over to Emily's bed, laying a reassuring hand on her back. "Are you both okay?" she asked, concerned.

It seemed that was the question to break the dam. Emily let out a sob, burying her head in her hands. "No! No, I'm not okay! Tyler is… Tyler is in so much pain… and I can't do a damn thing to help him! I just… I just want my brother back, dammit! I just want to-" I cut her off as pulled her into a tight hug, Kana following suit. Emily paused for only a second before burying her head into my shoulder and resuming her tears.

We stayed that way for about five minutes, until Emily's cries gradually slowed to sniffles. Eventually, she pulled her head off of my shoulder, looking up at me with tear-stained eyes. "Feel better?" I asked.

"Y-yeah," she replied shakily, slowly collecting herself. "I needed to get that out. Sorry you guys had to see that."

Kana gave her another hug from behind. "There's no need to apologize, Emily! We're both here for you, no matter what."

"Kana's right," I said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You said it yourself-we're family, even if we aren't bound by blood. And part of being a family is being there to support each other, especially in your lowest moments."

My words brought a fresh wave of tears to her eyes, and she pulled me closer for another hug. "Th-thanks guys. I really needed to hear that."

"It's no problem, Em," Kana told her as she released her hug. She cleared her throat. "So, uh… you were saying?"

"Oh, right," she slowly let go of me and sat back, leaving me with a strange feeling of disappointment to be examined later. "Basically, tomorrow is a really bad day for Tyler. There are a lot of bad memories. So please try to leave him alone tomorrow, okay? I don't want him to fly off the handle and say something hurtful to either of you."

I gave a large sigh. "...Alright. I'll try to stay clear." ' _But only as a favor to you, Emily. ...Wait, where the hell did that thought come from?'_

Before I could think too deeply, Emily turned her attention to Kana. "Kana? What about you?"

She mulled over her options. "Alright," she said finally, "I'll try to stay away, but if he looks hurt or anything, I'm gonna at least try to help."

"That's probably the best I'm going to get from you, so I guess I'll take it." Emily wiped her eyes before hopping off her bed. "Well, I doubt I'm gonna get much more studying done after all that. Guess I'll go get ready for bed." She slipped off to the bathroom.

"Well… that happened," I said after she had left earshot.

"Yeah…" Kana agreed. "I can't imagine what sort of horrible thing happened to them. I feel so bad for them both." Her face dropped. "But what can we do?"

"At this point, all we can do is comfort Emily and do our best to get Blackquill to talk to us." I stood up, grabbing my textbook and moving to put it away. "He gets tomorrow, and then I want some damn answers."

* * *

 **Kana Brightwing**

 **Beacon Academy- Courtyard**

"Geez, everything is just falling apart recently…" I muttered to myself as I walked through the school courtyard. Blake had vanished the night prior, after a reportedly heated argument with Weiss. I didn't know the full details, but it sounded like the raven-haired girl had some serious skeletons in her closet.

I sighed. "Blake is gone, Weiss is being stubborn, Emily is an emotional wreck, and Blackquill is off who knows where… What's next?" I glanced up to the setting sun. "I was given these powers to help people, right? And yet I can't do anything to help the ones who need it most…"

As I turned past the docks to head back to the dorm, a spot of white caught my attention. "Is that…?" I recognized my leader sitting on the edge of the docks almost instantly, and started running over to him. "Blackquill!" I called out, "You're back!" He gave no reply as I approached him, staring off into the distant cityscape. "Hey, are you alright? I haven't seen you all day."

"Go away." I stepped back at the sudden answer.

"Blackquill, I just want to know if you're okay," I tried again. "We're all worried about you."

"I'm fine. Now leave." His tone brokered no argument, but I wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Are you?" I asked. "People who are 'okay' don't just up and vanish for a whole day." I moved to sit down next to him, but seeing him tense up stopped me. "Blackquill, please, just tell me if something's wrong. I want to help."

"There is nothing you can help with. Now LEAVE." The anger in his words hit me hard, and something in me snapped.

"No, I'm not going to leave!" I suddenly shouted. "Quit pushing us out, Blackquill! We want to help you, and you just refuse to let us! I'm sick of it!"

"Why do you even give a damn?" He fired back, finally turning to face me. "Why does this matter so much to you? Why do you keep forcibly inserting yourself in business that is clearly not your own?!"

"Because I'm trying to be nice to you, for Dust's sake!" I cried. "I want to help you! I want you to be happy for once! It's obvious something happened to you, something that hurt you terribly, and I want to help you heal!"

"You… CAN'T… help me." Each word was measured and even as he tried to control his temper. "So stop trying to."

"And why is that, Blackquill? Why can't I help you?" I pressed. "Even if I can't do something physically, I can still try to support you! I'm your partner. It's my job to help you out when you're hurt, physically or mentally! So why do you keep pushing me away?"

"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO GET ANYONE ELSE KILLED, DAMMIT!" I reeled back from his outburst, and for a moment everything was silent, before Blackquill's eyes widened, as if realizing what he had said. He turned without a word and leapt from the dock, taking flight towards the distant city.

I was left to process what he said, tears welling up in my eyes. ' _Wh-what did he mean? What did I say? Oh Dust, what have I done?"_

* * *

 **Emily Blackquill**

 **Beacon Academy- BREK Dorm**

"-and that's basically it. The Fang has been gunning for companies like the SDC ever since they turned violent," Roark finished. I had asked him to fill me in on the situation between Weiss and Blake, which ended up being a history lesson on the Schnee Dust Company as well.

"I see. Well, I can certainly see why Weiss would hate them," I said, putting a hand to my chin. "But Blake believes in the Fang… She doesn't seem the type to endorse stuff like that."

"Maybe she belonged to the Fang back when they were peaceful?" Roark suggested. "Though that raises the question of why they'd be working with humans after that point."

Before I could answer, the door slammed open to reveal a tear-stricken Kana. "Emily, I'm so sorry! I-Ididn'tmeantoarguewithhimbutnowheranawayandIdon'tknowwhattodo!" The jumble of words spilled out between sobs as the girl tried to pull herself together.

"Kana, calm down a bit," I soothed, walking up to her. "Take a deep breath and tell us what happened."

As she tried to regain her composure, she took a breath and tried again. "I saw Blackquill out at the docks. I tried to ask him if he was okay, but he told me to go away, and then I got angry that he was pushing me out again, and then we argued, but then he said that he got someone killed, and then he ran off!" she explained, gasping for air as she finished.

I took a second to understand what had happened, and then sighed deeply. ' _Figures this would happen eventually…'_

" _Oh good, I was hoping this wouldn't come as a surprise,"_ Shade snarked over our link.

' _Not the goddamn time, Shade.'_ I turned my attention to the sobbing Faunus girl, who had sunk to her knees.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen!" she cried. I knelt down and put my hand on her shoulder.

"It's not your fault," I reassured. "I had a feeling something like this was going to happen at some point." I looked up at Roark. "Get the others together. It's time I explain some things."

Wait, what?" he asked incredulously. "I thought you said you wouldn't say anything unless something drastic happened."

"I'd call this pretty drastic," I replied. "Get Team RWBY and JNPR, and tell them to meet me in the library. You all deserve to know at this point."

* * *

About thirty minutes later, I sat at the head of a large library table. To my left sat Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Roark, and to my right were Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, and Kana. All eyes were on me as I stood to speak. "Alright. My brother had a bit of a confrontation and ran off. I honestly anticipated that this would happen, and I'm not all that surprised it happened today of all days. So in light of that, I think I owe you all an explanation."

Jaune spoke up. "So you're going to tell us about what happened in his past?"

I nodded. "Yes. At this point, I can't keep this stuff hidden anymore. It's going to come out eventually, and I'd rather you guys hear it in a calm and relatively peaceful situation instead of an argument."

"What about that promise to your brother?" Ruby asked.

"I did say that unless something drastic happened, I'd keep quiet," I acknowledged, "but I'd call this drastic." I turned my focus to everyone. "Alright, buckle up, everyone. This is gonna be a long one."

* * *

 _To understand the current issue, you guys are gonna need some context. My brother and I grew up in a place called Arizona back on Earth. Think of it kinda like Vacuo, but much more settled and populated since we don't have Grimm. The two of us had pretty normal lives, all things considered. We were both really smart, but neither of us were your stereotypical geek. Tyler was a different person back then. He was open, friendly, and he always wanted to help others out. Even as a younger kid, he had a big thing about honor. He placed a big value on his word, and always tried to keep any promise he made. He always thought of himself as some sort of knight or noble hero- he wanted to protect those who couldn't protect themselves._

 _For the first ten or so years of our lives, everything was normal. Then, sixth grade happened. We had just moved up to a new school, as our old one only went up to fifth grade. As school first started, Tyler met a girl named Atlantis. She was the daughter of one of Arizona's Congressmen, basically a governmental official. Atlantis was the dictionary definition of Popular Girl, so it was a bit of a shock when she started being friendly with Tyler. Still, neither of us really made much out of it, at least at first._

 _As it turns out though, Tyler's reputation had preceded him, and Atlantis wanted to take advantage of it. She started giving him all sorts of little gifts and favors, and Tyler, being himself, felt obligated to pay her back. But then the gifts started ramping up. New game consoles, concert tickets, fancy outfits… And so too did the favors Atlantis asked of him. She started making him do her homework, her projects, even some of her chores. By the time seventh grade started, he had basically lost all of his free time; he was so busy doing Atlantis and her friends' work on top of his own that he couldn't spend any time with friends or family. It started affecting his health, too- He was getting very little sleep, and he just looked absolutely ragged._

* * *

"Wait, but why did he not just tell someone about this?" Weiss interrupted. "That seems like something you would want to report."

"Atlantis had thought of that," I replied, not meeting her eyes. "There's a reason I mentioned her dad was a Congressman. She threatened Tyler with her family's power. She said that if he ever told anyone about what was going on, not only would no one believe him, but she would turn around and ruin the lives of everyone he cared about. She said that she'd get our mom and dad fired from their jobs, that she'd get me and all of his friends expelled from school or put in juvenile detention. My brother didn't want that, so he kept quiet.

* * *

 _He couldn't keep the secret forever, however. I eventually caught on to what was happening, and did some snooping on my own. I found out what Atlantis was doing and confronted my brother. I eventually was able to convince him to tell our parents, and we brought our evidence to the principal of the school. It was a massive scandal as soon as it got out, and we found out it was even bigger than we thought. Atlantis had been running this scheme since fourth grade, and had at least five other people under her thumb. She was immediately expelled, and the blowback was so big her father resigned from office._

 _But the damage had been done. My brother lost trust in everyone around him, and withdrew within himself. He was very distant, quiet, and just wanted to be left alone at school. He was a shell of his former self._

* * *

"Alright, so that explains some things," Roark said. "But who's this mysterious person he lost?"

"I wasn't done, Roark. That was just the background you guys needed for the real story."

* * *

 _Right, so after seventh grade concluded, Tyler and I changed schools. Our parents thought it'd be best to get away from bad memories and start over. The first day there, however, he bumped into a girl with a fiery passion that matched her hair. She introduced herself as Amy Kallian, a new student like us, and tried to make friends… which kinda went about as well as you'd expect. But Amy wasn't the type to give up, and kept trying to get my brother to open up, regardless of how many times he shrugged her off. Eventually I decided to take her aside and try to understand her motivations._

 _Turns out Amy was more perceptive than I had first thought. She had seen through the wall my brother had put up, and could tell he was in some serious pain. She told me that she wanted to help him, not for any particular benefit for herself, but because she just wanted to be a good person. I was convinced, so I helped her befriend my brother. And by God, am I glad I did. Amy was… Amy was the greatest thing to happen to Tyler. She was able to break down his walls and bring him back to his old self; within a few months he was laughing and making friends again, like everything with Atlantis had just never happened. They grew close pretty quickly, and by Freshman year of high school, the two were dating. They were like a movie couple- they were just perfect for each other. I'd never seen my brother so happy and bright._

 _But all of that soon came crashing to the ground. In the Winter of Sophomore year, Tyler, Amy, and I had decided to go see a movie together to celebrate the upcoming Winter Break. During the movie, though, a masked man entered the theater. He pulled a gun and aimed right at my brother. He froze up. But before the man pulled the trigger, Amy leapt in front of Tyler… and took the bullet. The man was tackled right after by an off-duty cop in the audience, but it was too late. Amy died in Tyler's arms._

 _After losing Amy, Tyler… well, he blamed himself. He saw himself freezing up as the reason why Amy died. He barely left his room for about a month afterwards, but when he did… he had changed. He had become what you guys know him as today: Blackquill._

* * *

"...And the day Amy lost her life… was December 12th, 2015," I finished. "Three years ago, today."

"So that's why today was so important?" Kana asked. "...And that day in September, that was…?"

"Amy's birthday," I told her. "She would have been 18."

"Well that's great and all," Roark piped up, "but that doesn't excuse his actions."

"Roark!" Ruby exclaimed, pushing to her feet. "How can you say something like that?"

"Don't get me wrong," he replied, "I get that he's gone through some serious shit, and I can sympathize. But that doesn't change the fact that he's pushing us out when all we want to do is help. It doesn't excuse the fact that he's been a bit of a dick, and it doesn't let him just do as he pleases."

"I'm afraid I have to agree," Weiss said. "I can certainly understand his pain, but he shouldn't be shutting his team out."

"He's afraid," Pyrrha spoke up. "He's already lost one person close to him, and he's afraid that if he lets anyone get close, then he'll lose them too, and he won't be able to handle it. Am I correct, Emily?"

"...Yeah," I nodded, turning to Roark. "My brother is scared. He pushes everyone out because he sees this as his problem alone, but he's also terrified of losing someone else."

"That's why he's so focused on getting stronger, isn't it?" Jaune asked. "He said that he wanted to 'repent' for something, and to protect the people he loved. It's Amy's death that he wants to repent for, and he doesn't want to lose you."

"You got it in one, Jaune." I looked at the others. "Look. Whether you feel sympathy for my brother or not isn't my business. I just wanted you all to know how my brother became what he is, because you all deserve to understand. Make of it what you will." With that, I walked away.

" _Well. That probably could've gone better,"_ Shade piped up.

' _It went about as well as it could have, Shade,'_ I replied as I started walking back to the dorm room. ' _They know now, and that's enough for me.'_

" _And what are you going to tell him once he gets back, hm? You DID break your promise."_

' _And HE ran off,'_ I told him. ' _I promised Tyler I'd keep it a secret as long as possible. He's the one who snapped and then ran away. Everyone else had a right to know at that point.'_

" _Heh. Fair enough, sweetheart."_

* * *

"So what now?" Kana asked me once we had gotten back to the dorm. "Do we go look for him?"

"I'd advise against it, Kana," I told her as I got ready for bed. "It's already way too late to go searching tonight. If Tyler doesn't show up in the morning, then you can go looking, but he may not be in the mood to talk if you find him." I looked up up the snow-haired girl. "Just… be careful. I know you want to help him, but he doesn't want it."

"I know. But I need to find him. I need to say I'm sorry." Those words brought the first smile of the night for me.

"Thank you Kana," I replied. "Thank you for everything." And with that I hopped into bed.

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Vale Outskirts**

I stared up at the stars from where I lay on a warehouse roof. ' _I can't believe I let that slip out. What is it about Brightwing that makes me lose my composure like that?'_

" _Maybe it's because you care about her?"_ Sky suggested.

' _I don't,'_ I denied vehemently. ' _Why the hell would I care about her or what she thinks about me?'_

" _Because she cares about you, wants to help you, and has been nothing but kind to you?"_ she fired back. " _And I never mentioned what she thinks about you."_ For once, I had no retort to that.

* * *

 **Alright, Chapter 7 is up! I'll be honest, I was stuck with a bad case of writer's block for quite a few bits of this chapter, especially the beginning, which is why this took so long. However, I'm glad it's finally out. This one is really backstory heavy, but I wanted to shed some light on Blackquill's motives and past. My goal was to make him sympathetic, but still irrational.**

 **Volume 5 is drawing close! The hype train has no brakes!**

 **As always, please leave some comments, criticism, or reviews! I can't become better without it!** **Next time: Chapter 8- Breaking Point.**

 **This is GoldenCyclone4, signing off.**


	12. Chapter 8: Breaking Point

**BREK Chapter 8- Breaking Point**

 **Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth. Kingdom Hearts is owned by Disney and Square Enix. I own nothing but my own characters.**

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Vale- Downtown District**

Morning had arrived in Vale, and with it the throngs of people spending their weekend out on the town. I watched the crowds from a rooftop, eating a small pastry I had purchased and contemplating what to do next.

" _So, what's your plan now, Blackquill?"_ Sky asked me. " _You have to return to Beacon eventually. You do have Finals tomorrow."_

' _I'm aware,'_ I replied, taking another bite. ' _I'll return after nightfall. It will minimize the odds of having to get questions I have no wish to answer.'_

" _You can't keep dodging the subject forever. You have to tell Kana and Roark at the very least,"_ she chided.

' _And when I feel comfortable doing so, I will. No sooner.'_

" _And when will that be?"_ she asked. " _You're running away from your troubles right now. Rather hypocritical, don't you think?"_

' _...I really hate when you make a good point,'_ I grumbled.

" _I'm well aware. You need to-"_ She cut herself off. " _Wait, look at the cafe."_ I glanced up at the small shop I had bought my pastry from, and noticed fairly quickly what Sky had meant. Sitting at one of the outdoor tables was Belladonna, accompanied by a monkey Faunus boy I had never seen. " _Didn't Blake run off the other day?"_

' _If Rose is to be believed, yes. I don't recognize the boy, though.'_

" _Maybe we should check to see if she's okay?"_ Sky suggested.

' _And why would I do that? Belladonna can handle herself,'_ I told my Spirit.

" _She's an ally, and one of the few people who really don't mind your moodiness. You at least owe it to her to check up on her,"_ she replied.

I sighed inwardly. ' _Fine.'_ With that, I pushed off the rooftop, using a small wind gust to land softly on the sidewalk below. From there I made my way over to the two Faunus. As i approached, I could hear the two conversing.

"...Sun… Are you familiar with the White Fang?" Belladonna asked.

The boy, "Sun," nodded. "Of course! I don't think there's a Faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them. Stupid, holier-than-thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want. Bunch of freaks, if you ask me!"

Belladonna took a sip of her tea before she replied. "I was once a member of the White Fang." Sun nearly choked on his own tea as he scrambled about. My own mind raced at the implications.

' _Belladonna was a member of the White Fang? What would she be doing with a group of racial terrorists?'_

Sun had apparently regained enough composure to speak again. "Wait a minute, **you** were a member of the White Fang?!"

Belladonna gave a slight nod. "That's right. I was a member for most of my life, actually. You could almost say I was born into it…" She looked up, reminiscing. "Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between Humans and the Faunus. Of course, despite being promised equality, the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang rose up as the voice of our people. And I was there. I was at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott. I actually thought we were making a difference. But I was just a youthful optimist." She looked down and sighed. "Then, five years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place. A new leader, with a new way of thinking. Suddenly, our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labor. And the worst part was, it was working. We were being treated like equals. But not out of respect... out of fear."

' _So an extremist rose to power, and the group went from peace to violence. Sure sounds familiar…'_ I thought to myself. ' _Quite a bit about Belladonna makes sense now.'_

" _You wanna stop eavesdropping now and let them know you're here?"_ Sky chided. I shrugged noncommittally. " _Blackquill…"_

' _Fine, fine.'_ I acquiesced, continuing towards the pair.

"So, do any of your friends know about this?" Sun was asking her. Belladonna's look of shame told me everything I needed to know.

"One of them does, anyway," I spoke up. Belladonna nearly jumped out of her skin, finally noticing me.

"Blackquill! What are you doing here?" she asked pensively. "And how much did you hear?"

"Peace, Belladonna. I already knew you were a Faunus," I told her. "As for why I'm here, I needed to… get away from Beacon for now. I think you're familiar with the concept." Her face melted to an expression of sympathy, before processing what I had said.

"Wait, how did you know I was a Faunus?" she asked, now suspicious.

"Do you recall that night in September that I ran into you on your way to the library?" At her nod, i continued. "I happened to be training my Semblance at the time. Your Aura shows your whole profile… cat ears included." I looked pointedly at her bow. "I was certainly surprised, but I understood you were likely hiding your heritage for a reason, so I kept silent. I can appreciate the desire to keep past events a secret."

"Okay, hold up a sec," Sun interrupted. "Blake, who is this guy?"

"Oh, sorry, I suppose I should have introduced you," she said, slightly sheepish. "Sun, this is Blackquill. He's a classmate of mine. Blackquill, this is Sun Wukong. I met him the other day; he's a student from Mistral here for the Vytal Festival."

I tilted my head, momentarily confused. "I thought that the students from other schools weren't due to arrive until after the semester break."

Wukong shrugged. "I decided I wanted to show up early and check out the town, so I stowed away on a boat." This made me raise a brow. "What? I didn't take anything. Just hitched a ride."

"...Right. Well, I will leave the both of you to continue whatever it was you were doing," I replied, turning to leave.

"Wait, Blackquill," Belladonna called. I stopped and turned my head back to her. "Where are you going?"

I mulled over this question. Eventually, I replied, "Don't know. Don't particularly care." With that, I continued on my way.

* * *

 **Kana Brightwing**

 **Vale- Shopping District**

"Blackquill?" I called out for what felt like the hundredth time in the past couple hours. I had been able to convince Roark and Emily to join me in my search for our missing leader, and the three of us had split up to search the city. I had already searched the downtown area, and as the sun started to set, I was nearing the end of the shopping district. I sighed to myself. ' _Guess the only place left is the docks.'_

" _Don't give up hope, milady,"_ Bright told me. " _We'll find him, I'm sure of it."_

' _At least one of us has some confidence,'_ I replied sadly. ' _This whole thing is my fault…'_

" _You know that isn't true, milady. You had no idea any of this would happen."_

' _But I still ignored Emily's warning,'_ I countered, before shaking my head. ' _This is getting us nowhere. I should keep moving.'_ With that, I turned my attention towards the docks.

* * *

' _No sign of him here, either,'_ I sighed.I had given the docks a thorough search as night had fallen, and I still had no idea where Blackquill was.

" _Milady, above you,"_ Bright spoke up. I glanced up to see what my Spirit had noticed. My eyes locked on a familiar girl dressed in black.

' _Blake? What is she doing here?'_ My gaze turned to the unfamiliar Faunus boy with her. ' _And who's that guy?'_ Before I could call out, I heard the sound of a Bullhead's engines approaching from the port. Noticing Blake tensing up, I ducked into the shadow of a nearby shipping container. ' _What the heck is going on here?'_ I wondered as the Bullhead touched down. My question got its answer quickly; several people disembarked the aircraft, all dressed in the same white uniform and wearing Grimm masks. I barely held back a gasp at the red wolf's head emblazoned on their backs. ' _The Fang!'_ I looked back at Blake, who had turned away. ' _Did she know they were coming?'_

A voice from the Bullhead caught my attention. "Hey, what's the holdup?" A man dressed in a white trench coat and bowler cap strutted down the ramp, his bright orange hair standing out amongst the muted colors of the docks. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?"

' _That man… I've seen him on TV somewhere…'_ I thought to myself, before it suddenly clicked. ' _That's Roman Torchwick!'_ My shock turned to confusion. ' _But why would the Fang be helping a human?'_

" _Milady, the person with him,"_ Bright interrupted. " _Do you see them?"_ I looked back at the airship, and sure enough, Torchwick was accompanied by someone dressed head to toe in a black cloak. " _I sense a lot of power emanating from them. Be careful."_

I nodded, already trying to figure out a plan. ' _I need to call Emily and Roark. With this many people, I'll need some help-'_ My thoughts were interrupted by Blake leaping off her container and taking Torchwick hostage, holding the blade of her weapon to his neck.

"What the… Oh, for fu-" Torchwick started to say before Blake cut him off.

"Nobody move!" She called as the Fang members focused on her.

"Woah, take it easy there little lady," Torchwick told her, before nodding at the cloaked figure. As the Fang members closed in, Blake reached up and tugged her bow off, revealing a pair of cat ears.

' _Blake's a Faunus?!'_ I couldn't believe my eyes. What she said next stunned me further.

"Brothers of the White Fang, why are you aiding this scum?" she cried. The Fang members lowered their weapons, seemingly unsure of what was happening, but Torchwick just laughed.

"Oh, kid, didn't you get the memo?" he asked her.

"What are you talking about?"

"The White Fang and I are going in on a… joint business venture together,"he replied.

Blake pressed her sword closer to his neck. "Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation."

This got another chuckle out of the criminal, as did the sight of several more Bullheads incoming. "I wouldn't exactly call it a _little_ operation…" With that, he pointed his cane at Blake's feet.

' _Wait, doesn't he have a-'_ Before I could complete the thought, the ground around them exploded. ' _-Rocket cane…'_

Blake rolled away from the explosion, leaping to her feet and engaging Roman. She quickly dodged his shots, the flaming projectiles destroying cargo containers as she looked for cover.

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty," Torchwick mocked, before a banana peel landed on his face, followed by the feet of Blake's companion. He jumped off of Torchwick and landed in a roll, turning to face him.

"Leave her alone," the boy challenged. One of the Bullheads overhead opened, allowing several more White Fang members to leap out and surround him.

"You are not the brightest banana in the bunch, are ya, kid?" Torchwick asked him, before the Fang charged him. I decided that now was the time to leap forward, summoning my guns to my hands and shifting them to blade form.

"Photon Cutter!" I called, spiraling into the group of Fang members and sending several flying. The boy, meanwhile, had pulled out a collapsible bo staff, and was swinging away at the remaining enemies. We quickly found ourselves back to back.

"Don't think I've seen you before," he called to me. "Name's Sun. I'm helping Blake over there."

"Kana," I returned. "Blake's friend from school." I ducked under a sword before blasting my assailant back with a light burst. "What's going on here?"

"The Fang are trying to steal some Dust from a Schnee shipment," he replied, flinging a Fang member right over Torchwick's head. The man growled and fired a shot at Sun, who deflected it with his staff.

Blake leapt out from cover and charged Torchwick. "He's mine!" she called, readying her blade. But before she could reach him, the cloaked figure jumped in front of her path, lashing out with a swift kick to keep her away. Blake narrowly dodged the attack, rolling away. "Gah… Who are you?"

The figure maintained silence, but Torchwick laughed. "Ah, I knew there was a reason I was keeping you around!" He gestured at the three of us. "Keep them busy, will you?"

I glanced at Sun. "You two try to stop Torchwick," I ordered. "I'll handle the cloaked guy."

I bolted forward with my blades out. "Shining Cross!" I called, my blades glowing with Light energy. I swung both swords in an X, but the figure quickly revealed a pair of daggers and parried the blow. ' _Close range weaponry. So if I can keep them at a distance…'_ I switched tactics, changing my weapons back to gun form. I quickly jumped back and opened fire, but the figure leapt over the shots with ease.

' _So fast…'_ I grit my teeth, trying to land a shot. No matter how I aimed, though, the figure seemed to dodge my attacks effortlessly. After dashing past my salvo, they rushed at me, daggers bared. I prepared to block, but the figure threw out their left hand and fired some sort of liquid from it. ' _What the-?'_ I quickly hopped back, watching the liquid splatter on the floor before steam rose from the concrete. ' _Acid?!'_

I was now entirely on the defensive, trying desperately to dodge the figure's swipes with their daggers and the acid pools they continued to fire at me. A dagger flew past my face, leaving a shallow cut on my cheek. ' _No!'_ I gasped. ' _How did that bypass my Aura?!'_ I barely stopped myself from leaping into an acid pool that had formed behind me, but that left me open to several punches and kicks from my opponent. Each hit nearly knocked the wind out of me, and I went flying into a shipping container.

Dazed, I looked up fast enough to see a dagger descending on me. I rolled fast enough to avoid being stabbed in the body, but the knife sunk deep into my right leg, and I quickly lost feeling in it. ' _Bright, what's happening? Why can't I feel my leg?'_ I panicked.

" _The dagger must have been coated in paralysis venom of some kind, milady!"_ she told me. " _It's too potent for your current spell level to heal!"_

I tried desperately to struggle to my feet, but my leg wouldn't cooperate, and I fell to my knees. I could only watch as the figure removed a gun from their cloak and approached me. I closed my eyes. ' _Don't let this be it! Please, I don't wanna die!'_ "Help!" I cried out, hoping anyone could hear me. "Please!" I screamed as the figure placed the gun against my head. I slammed my eyes shut, awaiting the final shot… before I heard a guttural roar.

" **AMY!"**

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Vale Shipyard- 10 minutes prior**

I leapt from one warehouse roof to the next, searching for the source of the explosion I had just seen. " _We should be getting close,"_ Sky told me. " _Can you sense any signs of conflict nearby?"_

I paused for a moment, closing my eyes and focusing. ' _Oh yeah. I can feel a ton of signatures about 100 meters from here. I'm feeling a lot of Faunus signatures… White Fang operation gone bad, perhaps?'_

" _Anyone we know?"_

Focusing again, I made note of three familiar signatures. ' _Belladonna, Wukong, and… Wait, Brightwing? What is she doing here?'_ I picked up my pace, moving towards the signatures. ' _I'm also picking up a signature that I can't recognize. It's powerful though. Stronger than most signatures I've read so far.'_ I smirked to myself. ' _Perhaps they can give me a challenge so I can see how far I've come.'_

I arrived on the scene to witness mayhem. There were White Fang members sprawled out everywhere. In the center of them all were Belladonna and Wukong, battling a man I recalled to be Roman Torchwick. I scanned the area for Brightwing, eventually locating her battling a figure in a black cloak that I recognized instantly. ' _She's fighting a member of Organization XIII? What the actual fuck?'_ Before I could question the situation further, the figure threw the girl into a shipping container before leaping in to stab her with their daggers. Brightwing tried to dodge, but took a dagger to the leg. She tried to stand up, but fell to her knees in pain. A quick check of her Aura revealed a foul substance on the blade that was seeping into her.

" _Blackquill, she's in trouble!"_ Sky cried, alarmed. " _We have to help her!"_ But my eyes were drawn to the gun the figure had just produced from their cloak. It didn't look Remnian-made- in fact, it was certainly from Earth, and I recognized it immediately. A Smith  & Wesson Sigma… A gun I knew far too well. Distantly, I could hear Brightwing screaming for help, but as I turned to look at her once again, I didn't see the young Faunus girl. All I could see was a girl with fiery hair and emerald eyes, pleading for her life, before my vision went red.

* * *

 **Kana Brightwing**

 **Vale Shipyard**

" **AMY!"**

The shout pierced through the noise of the battle, and I felt the ground around me shake as a massive gust of wind threw me back. I opened my eyes to see Blackquill, enveloped in storm-force winds, standing between me and the cloaked figure. His eyes were filled with a fury I had never imagined possible, and he held his blades in a death grip. "B-Blackquill?" I asked, relieved and terrified at the same time.

He ignored me, focusing on the figure. " **No one hurts my friends. You die. NOW!"** With that, he rushed the figure, slamming his blade into their chest and sending them flying. He quickly sped up and raced past the figure, kicking them in the head as they caught up.

' _Bright, what's going on?'_ I asked my Spirit as i watched Blackquill continue his onslaught against the figure. ' _His power… it feels so… scary.'_

" _His power has overwhelmed him,"_ she replied, fear in her voice. " _His emotions have gotten out of control, and with them, his powers. If someone doesn't stop him, he might lose himself completely…."_

' _What can I do?'_

" _Try to get close to him and calm him down!"_ she told me. I turned back to the battle, where the figure was trying to hold off Blackquill's assault. He continued to slam his blades down on their daggers over and over, trying to shatter the little defense they had. He let out an animalistic roar and threw the figure away with a blast of wind.

I tried to stand, but the poison in my leg was too strong, so I instead got to my knees and started to crawl. The sound of several explosions made me turn, and I saw several Bullheads being cut in half by massive lasers. The source of the lasers, a young orange-haired girl with several blades floating around her, seemed to be fighting the White Fang as well. I caught a glimpse of Ruby out of the corner of my eye. ' _I guess that girl's on our side…'_ I thought, turning back to my destination.

The figure leapt away from Blackquill's next attack and tried to put some distance between the two. Torchwick called out to them from his Bullhead. "Time to cut our losses and go, friend!" The figure nodded, dashing to the aircraft's ramp with Blackquill hot on their trail. The figure jumped onto the ramp right as the Bullhead lifted off, the backwash pushing Blackquill away. The ship quickly gained altitude and began to make its retreat.

" **You won't get away!"** Blackquill roared, soaring into the air after the fleeing Bullhead. The bullhead turned and fired two shots at him. He veered past the first, but the second slammed into him, and he was flung backward, falling out of the sky.

"No… Blackquill!" ' _If he hits the ground now… he'll die!'_ I made a snap decision and deactivated my Semblance, feeling wings appear upon my back. Summoning the last bit of strength I had, I quickly flew towards my falling leader before he could hit the ground. I managed to catch him just in time, and I quickly moved to land before my strength gave out completely. I collapsed to my knees once I hit the ground, Blackquill rolling out of my arms. ' _I… did it…'_ I thought, dismissing my wings right before I passed out.

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Vale Shipyard**

"...ler. ...yler! Tyler!" I slowly opened my eyes to see Emily's worried face peering over me. I groaned, feeling my head ringing. "Oh thank god. You're awake!"

"Ugh… Emily?" I asked, slowly sitting up. "When did you get here? What happened?" I took stock of the situation around me. Quite a few White Fang members were being handcuffed and taken away by Vale Police. Team RWBY seemed to be having a discussion off in a corner. Stonebur was leaning up against a nearby shipping container, giving a statement to a pair of officers. Brightwing, meanwhile, was having her leg treated by paramedics.

"Well, Roark and I arrived about ten minutes ago," she replied, offering me her hand. I took it and stood up as fast as I dared, holding my aching head. "As for what happened… I'm not sure. All I know so far is what Blake and Kana have told me."

' _Sky? Is there a reason I don't remember getting knocked out?'_

" _There is,"_ she said. " _The best thing to call it is an Elemental Flux. Your emotions are linked to your powers, so if you lose control over your emotional state, it can cause an overload in your powers. You entered a state of pure rage, with nothing but anger guiding your abilities. If you hadn't been knocked out of it… you could have been lost to the storm forever."_

' _So keep my anger in check? Got it.'_ I paused. ' _Wait, what caused that state in the first place? The last thing I remember is…'_ I trailed off as I felt the images of what had happened return to me. ' _Oh.'_ I looked over at where Brightwing was sitting. "Is Brightwing going to be alright?" I asked my sister.

"Yeah," she replied, almost managing to keep the shock out of her tone. "She's not gonna be able to walk on her right leg for a few days, but once the wound heals up and the venom is out of her system, she'll be fine."

"Good. I wouldn't want a team member to be out for too long." I tried to not let my relief show on my face, and instead focused on the more disturbing revelation of the night. "Emily, there was a person wearing an Organization cloak."

"I know. Kana told me."

"But that's not the worst part," I continued. "The person had a gun. An EARTH gun."

"You're sure?" she asked, skeptical.

"Emily, it was a Sigma. I KNOW that gun." That got her attention. "Whoever they were, they got that gun from Earth."

My sister contemplated this. "So you're saying that someone else from Earth is here? Someone on the opposite side?"

I nodded. "From what I saw, they were using some sort of acid manipulation against Brightwing. It could have been a Semblance, yes, but I doubt it." I gestured at the melted concrete and steel left from the puddles of acid. "So if the two of us were brought here for some sort of purpose, as Professor Ozpin theorized…"

"...Then this person was likely brought here for the express purpose of countering our own goal," Emily finished. "That's… not a comforting thought, Ty."

"I know. We need to figure out who that person was, and what force brought them here. Sooner rather than later." I shook my head. "But that's a path to follow later, once we have a lead to trace."

Emily nodded. "You're right. For now, we should head back to Beacon and recover." She looked me in the eye. "That is, if you're coming back with us?"

"Relax, Emily," I told her. "I fully plan on going back to Beacon tonight. I overreacted to yesterday's events, and I'm sorry for running off without telling you."

My sister's sigh of relief did not go unnoticed. "Good. Now come on. We have tests tomorrow, and we need some rest."

* * *

 **Emily Blackquill**

 **Beacon Academy- Dormitory Hall**

"Emily, could I ask you something?" Kana called out as we walked back to our dorms. The Faunus girl had been given a pair of crutches, and her leg was heavily bandaged, but the paramedics had allowed her to return with us without much fuss.

"Hm? Yeah, shoot," I replied. She stopped moving, allowing both Tyler and Roark to continue past us. Roark turned and gave me a questioning glance, but I gestured for him to keep going.

"Okay, um… How do I phrase this?" the girl asked nervously. "I… I want to talk with Blackquill about his past."

"You mean you want to try to convince him to move on? Convince him what happened wasn't his fault?" I answered, understanding the hidden meaning immediately. At her surprised look, I continued. "Most people want to try it. No one's gotten through to him so far." I sighed, letting my gaze fall to the floor. "I've tried just about everything over these last three years, Kana. Don't get your hopes up."

"I still want to try!" The fire in her voice made me look up. "I want to help him, Emily. I hate seeing my friends in pain."

Her determination brought a rueful smile to my face. "Alright, Kana. You want to take a shot? Here's my advice. Be upfront and brutally honest."

This brought her up short. "Brutally honest? That doesn't sound like helping him…"

I shook my head. "At this point, it may be the only way to get through to him. Tell him exactly how you feel, and hold nothing back. That's my advice."

She took a few seconds to consider this. Finally, she nodded grimly. "Alright. I'll try." The two of us continued towards the dorm. Once there, Kana poked her head through the door. "Blackquill," she called, "Can you and I talk? Privately?"

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Beacon Academy- Dormitory Roof**

I set Brightwing down on the floor of the rooftop and released my Air power. This was the best location for a private talk, but Brightwing was under strict orders to stay off her leg as much as possible to let it heal. As such, I had carried her up the stairs using a simple Air Levitation ability. "So. You wanted to talk to me."

"I did," she began, moving over to the wall of the staircase housing and leaning against it for support. "I think we both have questions about what happened during the fight at the docks, so I wanted to get them out now."

I nodded, understanding that I likely had some explaining to do. I sucked in a deep breath. "Right. I suppose I should probably go first." I thought back to right when my powers had gone out of control. "You likely want to know who Amy is."

Rather than the curiosity I expected from Brightwing, I was shocked to see her twiddling her thumbs nervously. "Uh… about that…"

I raised my brow. "Yes?"

She gave a nervous chuckle. "It looks like Emily didn't tell you this, but, uh… she kinda sorta told us about that whole thing already. All of it."

"What." My voice went ice cold.

My tone seemed to bring out some indignance in Brightwing. "Hey, you ran off without an explanation! I was afraid I had said something seriously wrong, so I ran to Emily and asked her. She decided that we deserved to know, so that we didn't accidentally say something that set you off!" She paused, likely gathering her thoughts. "Look, Blackquill. I can understand how you feel. You lost someone who was very dear to you. Someone who gave you a second chance at life. But it's been three years. You have to learn to move on. And if that's hard for you, then let us in! Let me and Roark try to help! Let Ruby and Jaune try to help! Please! We don't want to see you like this!" At this point, her voice had risen to a desperate shout.

All throughout her little speech, I felt a deep anger growing inside. As the girl finished, I couldn't help but let out a bemused chuckle, which quickly grew into full on laughter. "Wh-why are you laughing?"

"Oh, this is just fucking great," I replied between bursts of deranged merriment. "Emily decided that **my personal information, my past** , was perfectly free to share, huh? Oh, that's a fucking shock, I gotta admit. I thought she cared about me enough to actually **respect** my wishes! But I gotta say, I'm **really** shocked that she decided to send **you** to do this, Brightwing. I'd have expected she would pick someone like Xiao Long. So what did she tell you to do, huh? Peddle out the usual 'You're not at fault' and 'She wouldn't want this' lines? Huh?"

"Blackquill, I chose to do this myself." That brought me up short. So Emily wasn't involved, huh? "I chose to do this because what you're doing isn't healthy, mentally or physically! You just keep on hurting yourself! I highly doubt that Amy would want you to push yourself so hard!"

"So you decided that the best way to go about this whole shitshow was by snooping into my **private** affairs, huh?" I growled. "You know, Brightwing, there is little in this world that makes me more fucking **pissed** than hearing that phrase. 'She would want you to.' 'Amy wouldn't want you to train so hard.' On the fucking contrary, Amy and I would train harder than anyone else, and we did it often! So no, I fucking doubt that she would want me to stop training so hard." By this point, I was clenching my fists and trying to stop shaking. "I swear, if I hear that phrase out of you, or Stonebur, or **anyone** who isn't from Earth again, then you will experience true rage." I walked up to her. "Do you have any idea how fucking presumptuous you all sound? You speak like you knew her, like you would know exactly how she would feel about a given scenario. Well you **don't,** so don't fucking even pretend to act like you would know what **my girlfriend** would want, do you fucking understand me?"

I punched the wall Brightwing was leaning against, leaving a spiderweb of cracks along it. "It's all so easy for you, isn't it? So fucking simple to tell me to move on and get over it! Like ripping off a goddamn band-aid, right? Get it done and over with, and it'll hurt less! You all keep saying that, like it'll just magically make me better! Well it won't!" I could feel my cheeks getting wet, but I wasn't finished. "Amy is gone! Dead! She is **never** coming back to me, and it's all because of me! She was killed because I was too weak and scared to control myself! How the **fuck** am I supposed to move on from that? Why can't you just let me feel my pain? Why won't you let me honor her memory? How the hell can you act like you know what I'm going through?"

"You think you're the only one who's gone through hell, Tyler?!" The sheer anger in Brightwing's tone actually made me pause. "You think you're the only one who had a horrible past? Well you're goddamn wrong!" A flash of light emanated from her back, and as it cleared she suddenly was sporting a large pair of bird wings. "I'm not a natural Faunus, Tyler! I wasn't **born** like you, or Emily, or Roark, or Blake! I was **made**! In a laboratory, by some psycho who felt like playing God! For the first twelve years of my life, I was nothing but a guinea pig, a toy for him to experiment with! He did things to me that I **still** have constant nightmares about! Ever since I got away, no one wanted me! The humans think I'm a freak, and the Faunus think I'm an abomination! So, Tyler, if you wanna talk pain, I think I can one up you there!" Her eyes burned with an emerald flame that made me take a step back.

"But I'm not done, you hear me? Because while I may not have known Amy, if she's half the person you seem to hold her up as, then I can make a few basic assumptions about how she might feel about this whole thing. I know for a fact that if she actually loved you, she would have stopped your training sessions long before now!"

"Explain yourself. Now," I growled from behind grit teeth. This girl was dangerously close to pissing me off, and I was barely holding back my anger.

"Look at yourself, Tyler," she exclaimed, gesturing at me. "What have those training sessions done for you besides leave you battered and exhausted? If you keep pushing yourself so far past your limits, you're going to break one day! There will be a day when you **don't wake up**." She gasped, as if she had just thought of something. "Is that your plan? You're so desperate to see Amy again that you'd kill yourself to be with her? Is that the whole goal of this?"

"Shut the fuck up!" I screamed. "You don't know a damn thing about what you're talking about! Why can you people not just let me be?! Let me honor the memory of the one person who meant everything to me!"

"How can I let you do that when you're spitting on her grave?!" Brightwing countered.

In a fraction of a second one of my blades was imbedded in the wall less than an inch from her head. "Pick your next words **very carefully,** " I told her, my voice a razor's edge.

To Brightwing's credit, she didn't even flinch. "Think about it Tyler. You make all this talk about how you're becoming stronger to honor Amy's memory, when you're squandering her last gift to you!" She jabbed her finger into my chest. "Amy took that bullet for you because she wanted you to **live.** She befriended you in the first place because she wanted to help you heal! She took that bullet because she wanted to make sure that the second chance she gave you wouldn't go to waste! She wanted you to be happy, to be free from all the hell you went through! But this-" she gestured at me "-isn't living! I'd struggle to call it surviving! Amy's last gift to you was the gift of a second chance, and here you are, wasting it! You're not honoring her memory, you're taking a friggin' sledgehammer to it!" At this point, the hysterical girl grabbed me by my collar. "Do you really think this is what Amy would want you to be doing? Or are you just lying to yourself so you don't have to face the truth? Because the truth is, there was **nothing** you could have done to save her, Tyler! Even trained soldiers can freeze up, and you sure as hell weren't a trained soldier back then!" She pulled my face level with hers, and I could see the tears streaming down her face. "Tyler, if there is some form of afterlife, then Amy hasn't been looking down on you with pride! She's been bawling her eyes out, **because of you!** " With that, she shoved me back and sank to the floor, sobbing.

For my part, I was frozen, trying to process what I had just heard. ' _She… she's wrong. She has to be. There's no way… I-I couldn't have been so wrong…'_ Unbidden, the memories of that day came flooding back...

* * *

 **Tyler Blackquill**

 **Harkins Theatre- 3 Years Ago**

Blood. So much blood. Distantly, I could feel a bit of disbelief that the human body could hold so much of it. But it was just a tiny voice in the back of my head. I pressed my hands to the hole in Amy's chest. ' _This can't be happening. This can't be happening. I have to be dreaming.'_ I clamped down on my panic. ' _Stop the bleeding. Gotta stop the bleeding.'_ I could hear a man struggling with the gunman. It wasn't important.

I let off the wound with one hand to pull my jacket off, quickly moving to tie it around Amy's chest in a makeshift tourniquet. "Hang in there, Ams," I told her, gripping her hand once I was done. "You're gonna be okay. I know it."

Amy gave a shaky chuckle. "C...come on, Ty. We… both know… that's not true." Her voice was so weak, so fragile, so far from the boisterous tone she always had. "Please… could I have… one last kiss?" I nodded, pressing my lips to hers as hard as I dared. As we separated, I saw a wan smile on her lips. "Thank… you. Tyler… promise me… you'll keep living… okay? Don't give up… on being happy."

"I will!" I swore, holding her hand up. "But you've gotta promise me you won't give up either! I can't… I can't do this without you! Please, don't leave me!" I started sobbing, clinging to her hand like a life preserver. "I love you! I can't lose you!"

Slowly, she reached her other hand up to my face. "I… love… you… too," she gasped out. "I'm… sorry…" With that, her hand dropped to her side, and I could see her eyes cloud over.

"No… no… no no no no no!" I desperately searched for a sign of breathing, for a pulse, anything. I laced my hands together and frantically began attempting CPR, trying to revive her. "No, no, no, no…. I can't lose you! Amy! Amy! **AMY!"**

* * *

 **Blackquill**

 **Beacon Academy- Dormitory Rooftop- Present Day**

"No… no… no…" I muttered, cradling my head between my knees. All this time… Brightwing was right. For three years, I hadn't been honoring Amy's memory, but desecrating it. I had promised her I would live, that I would try to be happy, and yet all I had done was try to run from my sadness. ' _How? How could I have been so foolish? So stupid?'_ I felt tears running down my eyes. ' _Amy… I'm so sorry… I promised you that I'd live… And I haven't… haven't been keeping that promise.'_

A gentle hand on my shoulder pulled me from my inner thoughts. I looked up to see Brightwing… no, Kana, gazing at me, sympathy filling her eyes. "Tyler… None of us want you to forget about her. You don't have to forget about someone to move on. Keep those precious memories of Amy in your heart. But you can't stay in the past forever. All we want is to help you move past the pain and sadness. Will you please let us do that?"

I answered her by pulling her into a tight hug, and with that, the dam burst. I sobbed into her shoulder as three years of built-up pain, anger, sorrow, and regret flowed out of me.

* * *

 **Kana Brightwing**

 **Beacon Academy- Dormitory Rooftop**

I don't know how long the two of us stayed like that. Eventually, Blackquill was able to pull himself together and pulled away from me. He looked at me with reddened eyes. "Um… Sorry about that."

I gave him a quiet smile. "It's fine. You don't have to apologize. Honestly, I'm just glad you trust me enough to open up like that." My face turned more serious. "So… what now?"

He sighed. "That's the million dollar question, isn't it? Or I suppose it would be million lien here." He leaned back and supported himself with my arms, staring up to the sky. "You're right. You're completely right, and it took me this long to realize it. I've been wasting Amy's last gift, and it needs to stop."

"So… you're gonna try to be your old self again?" I asked, hope in my voice.

He shook his head slowly. "No." My face fell, but he continued. "I **can't** go back to my old self. I've been through too much, seen too much, to go back to the naive, happy-go-lucky kid I used to be." He pulled a pendant out from beneath his shirt, opening the clasp and looking at the picture within. "But I can't keep going on as I am. Not if it means hurting her and her memory."

I looked curiously at the pendant, but quickly decided it wasn't the time to ask about it. "So… then what do you want to do?"

He glanced up. "I guess… I should take that gift Amy gave. A second chance. I need to… start over, I suppose."

"What do you mean?" I asked, a bit confused.

"I mean I need a fresh start. I need to become my own person again. Not the old me, or the way I am now, but a new person." He finally gave a slight smile. "So… even after what I've done, after the way I treated you… would you be willing to give me this second chance, Kana?"

Just hearing him say my first name brought tears of joy to my eyes, and I pulled him back into a hug. "Of course!" I told him. "You're my partner, after all, right?"

His smile grew as we separated. "Yeah, I am. It's time I started acting like it." He paused for a second before his gaze locked onto my wings, as if seeing them for the first time. "Starting with asking about those, I guess."

Feeling a bit self-conscious, I fought the urge to dismiss them. "Wh-what do you wanna know?" I asked, fidgeting.

"Well, I do want to know about how exactly you kept those hidden the whole time… but I get the feeling the better question is, why did you keep them hidden from us?"

"Um, well, you see…" I stammered. "I kept them hidden because… I was scared."

"Scared?" he echoed. "Of being bullied?"

"Well, that too," I replied. "But I was more afraid that everyone would reject me again… That I'd be an outcast… That my teammates would reject me…" I felt Tyler place a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"Hey," he said, "I think you underestimate your friends. Emily and I would never know you were unusual unless you told us, and barring Schn- Weiss, I doubt teams RWBY and JNPR would even care." He poked one of my wings with his other hand. "There's a phrase from Earth I tend to keep in mind when it comes to stuff like this. 'Those who mind, don't matter, and those who matter, don't mind.'"

His words made me smile. "Thank you, Blackquill. I needed that."

He looked at me curiously. "What, you're gonna go back to that? You seemed perfectly fine calling me by my first name a few moments ago."

"Th-that was in the heat of the moment," I replied. "I was angry, and I just wanted to get my point across, and…" I stopped, reflecting back on how downright mean I had been during the argument. "Oh, Dust, I didn't even apologize for what I said!"

He held up a hand to stop me. "There's no need. I needed to hear every word of it, and you likely wouldn't have gotten through without twisting the knife like you did." He then gave me a wry grin. "And if I'm gonna start fresh, it'd be best if I start using my real name again. So please, go right ahead and call me Tyler."

I returned his grin with one of my own. "Okay, Tyler."

"Great. Now that we've got that settled, I think we should probably go back to the dorms and get some rest. It's been a hell of a night."

I nodded, dismissing my wings once more. "Oh, uh, Tyler?" I asked. "Could we… maybe keep my wings between you and me for now?" At his questioning look, I continued. "I… I do trust our friends, but… I'm not ready to tell them yet. Please, just give me a bit of time, okay?"

He thought this over for a second before nodding. "Alright. My lips are sealed." He picked me up with his Wind powers, and we set off down the stairs.

* * *

 **Roark Stonebur**

 **Beacon Academy- BREK Dorm**

"They've been gone awhile," I said, sitting atop the desk closest to the door. "You think everything's alright?" Kana had come into the room and asked to talk with Blackquill in private, so the two had went up to the roof. They had been gone for almost an hour.

"I'm sure they're fine," Emily replied, though the hesitance in her voice betrayed her words. "They're probably just sorting some things out."

"Yeah, but Blackquill's version of 'sorting things out' doesn't exactly fill me with confidence, Emily. Especially since Kana is injured as is."

Emily whipped around, anger in her eyes. "Are you implying my brother would attack her while she's injured? Because that is **not** how Tyler operates."

"Easy, there," I backpedalled. "Just saying that Kana may be in over her head right now. That's all."

She visibly relaxed. "Sorry, Roark. I don't mean to be so snippy, but it's been a long day."

"That's an understatement," I remarked dryly. "And it just keeps getting longer-" I was interrupted by the door opening, revealing Blackquill and Kana. "Speak of the devil." There was definitely something different about Blackquill though. He seemed to be carrying himself slightly higher, and his face didn't seem as gloomy as usual. ' _The hell happened up there?'_

"Hey, you two," Emily spoke up, walking over to them. "Is everything alright?"

Blackquill _smiled_ as he replied. "Everything's fine, Em. Honestly, things are better than they have been in years."

Hearing that nickname seemed to cause Emily's brain to short-circuit for a moment. She shook her head to clear it. "Did… did I just hear that right? Did you just call me-?"

"I did," he nodded, walking up to her and pulling her into a hug. "You're not hearing things, Em."

Emily had tears in her eyes as she pulled back. "Y-you haven't called me that since…"

"Since Amy died, yeah," he confirmed. "Kana and I had a good long chat up on the roof. She said some things I needed to hear, and I've decided that I needed to start fresh."

Emily walked in front of Kana and pulled the girl into a tight hug, tears streaming down her face. "Thank you," she said quietly. "Thank you so much for giving me my brother back!"

"I-it was nothing," Kana replied, embarrassed. "I just said what needed to be said."

Emily finally released Kana and turned to her brother. "So you're gonna drop the tough loner act?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he told her. "All I've been doing these past three years has been ignoring her last gift to me. That stops today." His eyes shifted downward. "However… I can't just go back to how I was, either. Too much has changed." When he looked up, I could see there was none of the usual steel behind his gaze. "So I'm taking a third option. I'm starting over. I'm going to find my own way, starting now." He slipped past Emily and walked up to me. "Roark."

I started, not used to him calling me by my first name. "Yeah?"

"I… I know I've been difficult," he admitted. "I haven't been the best leader, and i know we've butted heads. I'm sorry for how I've acted these past few months, and I want to start fresh. Will you give me a chance to prove to you that I can be the leader you all deserve?"

I pretended to contemplate his request. "Alright, but on one condition," I eventually said.

"Name it." As soon as he said that, I slugged him in the chest as hard as I could. He dropped to a knee, holding the spot I had punched him.

"Roark!" Emily cried, moving to restrain me.

"It's fine, Em," Blackquill said, slowly regaining his feet. "I deserved that. I take it that was the condition?"

I nodded. "Yup. One free punch. Only fair." I reached out my hand. "Alright then, Blackquill. Let's see what you can really do."

"Please, call me Tyler," he replied as we shook hands. He turned to the girls. "Right. It's been a long day, and an even longer night. We should get some sleep." At everyone's agreement, he turned to go prepare for bed.

I sat down on my bed. ' _Heh. Guess this year still has some surprises left in it after all.'_

* * *

 **I'm not apologizing for that pun.**

 **In any case, I'm so glad to have hit this point in the story! This is Blackquill- sorry, Tyler's turning point. I've been waiting to get this chapter, and ESPECIALLY the rooftop argument, since I started. Now we can get on with the fun stuff!**

 **This marks the end of the Volume 1 content, but we're not going to move on to Volume 2 right away. I plan on a chapter or two detailing the events of Winter Break (At least I hope it would be Winter Break. RT, please give us a timeline...) first.**

 **Special thanks to the fan comic _I'm Not Her,_ which gave me some serious inspiration for the argument scene. It's a pretty good comic, and Princess Sakura Serenity has done an excellent dub of it on YouTube. Check it out if you wanna see Qrow losing his shit.**

 **With that, I'll be taking my leave. Hope you all are hyped for Volume 5! As always, comments, criticism, and reviews are greatly appreciated! Next time- Chapter 9: New Dawn.**

 **This is GoldenCyclone4, signing off.**


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